Light and Heavy Things

Zeeshan Sahil was born in Hyderabad, Sindh, in 1961 and went to school there. He started writing poetry in 1977 and has published eight collections of poetry in Urdu. His prose writings include critical articles and texts for broadcast on radio. He also had a brief association with the National Book Council of Pakistan. Described as a shy man, critics have praised Zeeshan Sahils poetry for its sensitivity and simplicity, as well as his post-modern approach. Christopher Kennedy grew up in a working-class suburb of Syracuse, New York. He received a B.A. in English from LeMoyne College and a M.A. in Creative Writing/English from Syracuse University, where he is currently the Director of the M.F.A. Program in Creative Writing. Kennedy has published four collections of poetry: Ennui Prophet (BOA Editions 2011), Encouragement for a Man Falling to his Death (BOA Editions 2007) which recieved the Isabella Gardner Poetry Award in 2007, Nietzsche's Horse (Low Fidelity Press), Trouble with the Machine (Mitki/Mitki Press), as well as one chapbook of prose poems, Greatest Hits. His writing has appeared in print and electronic journals including Ploughshares, The Threepenny Review, Double Room, and Del Sol Review, among many others. One of the founding editors of the literary journal 3rd Bed, Kennedy has received fellowships and awards from the Onondaga County Cultural Resource Center, the New York Foundation for the Arts, and the Saltonstall Foundation for the Arts. Mi Ditmar was a student in the MFA program in Creative Writing at Syracuse University where she received the Joyce Carol Oates Award and the Delmore Schwartz Prize. Her poetry has appeared in Stone Canoe and her fiction has appeared in The Alaska Quarterly Review. She is a research project coordinator in the field of public health. Faisal Siddiqui was born and raised in Karachi, Pakistan. He has been published in Salamander, Poet Lore and International Poetry Review and has upcoming publications in Malahat Review, Notre Dame Review and New Letters.

A World Literature Today 'Nota Benes' for January/February 2014 "He makes his point in such a quiet way, in such a vulnerable, elegant, this-thin-glass-lightbulb-could-shatter-in-your-hands-at-any-minute way, that it's disarming, astounding."--Nicolle Elizabeth, HTML Giant "thematically coherent, well-composed--albeit brief--collection that places Sahil right up there with the best of contemporary Pakistani poets, alongside folks like Hasina Gul, Daniyal Mueenuddin, and Yasmeen Hameed." -The Rumpus "War and poor health besieged the Pakistani poet Zeeshan Sahil (1961--2008), but his spirit continues to shine brightly through these poems, illuminating a path of steadfast hope and affirmation of life." - World Literature Today

• Black Bird4A Poem for You7My Uncle’s House8Birds9What Does Suu Kyi Want?11I Will Send a Bird13Love14Knife16Poem18Poetry19Sun Stroke21Time Bomb22To Forget23Poem24The Unworthy25Untitled27Gestapo28Jail30Light and Heavy Things32We, Every Day34People36Malika/Queen38Four Walls39One Day40East43The Second Sky45Wall and Bird47A Child’s Bicycle48An Olive Tree50You Are an Inflammatory Poet52