Moniza Alvi
How delighted she was that the War
ended on her birthday.
The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.
She was fifteen and in service, a parlour maid
in a big house behind Barkers in Kensington.
Never again.
Again and again.
We don’t die, but perhaps we die a little.
My kind grandmother, Lydia, motherless
and learning how to lay the table properly.
How special she felt that the War
ended on her birthday.
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Issue 110
The Spring 2025 issue includes new poems by featured author Vidyan Ravinthiran, as well as new work by Daljit Nagra, Vona Groarke, Paul Farley, Moniza Alvi, Alan Gillis, and Karen McCarthy Woolf. This exciting issue also introduces a vital prose piece by Jennifer Lee Tsai on the work of Julia Kristeva. Hasti and Oluwaseun Olayiwola jointly review the collection Adam by Gboyega Odubanjo. The reviews section contains criticism by Zakia Carpenter-Hall, Patrick Romero McCafferty, Katrina Naomi, and more.
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