Margaret Randall
“Then I saw what the calling was :it was the road I traveled”- Muriel Rukeyser
My life and work have been profoundly informed by parents who gave me love and adventure, and encouraged creativity; the dramatic desert canyons, rich colors and open skies of the southwestern United States; Socialist ideals; the second wave of feminism; and the generous mentorship of many great friends and colleagues. My children, grandchildren, and great grandchild are always with me, even when far away; and my spouse Barbara is bedrock. New York’s abstract expressionist painters in the 1950s, Mexico and her struggles of the 1960s, the Cuban revolution’s second brave decade in the 1970s, the Vietnamese people’s struggle against US attack and occupation in that same decade, and the Sandinista attempt to change Nicaragua in the early 1980s were places and events that shaped me. The exploration of ancient sites continues to be a source of nourishment, and I have long been involved with oral tradition. I deeply believe in humanistic values, combating our culture of violence and greed, and art as a tool for change. I invite you to enter my website, learn about my books, read my poetry and look at my photographic images.
El Corno #21 featured an anthology of new Chilean poetry by such as Nicanor Parra, Gonzalo Rojas, Enrique Lihn, Jorge Teillier, Waldo Rojas, and Floridor Perez. Other contributors were Julio Cortazar, Susan Sherman, Agusti Bartra, Haroldo de Campos (translated into English by Edwin Morgan), Jose Agustin, and Harry Lewis. Dan Georgakas interviewed James Baldwin.
Margaret got to know Nicanor Parra in Cuba in 1968, when both of them were delegates to the Cultural Congress of Havana. His (...)
Confused, uncertain, murky, ambiguous
No one will take notice, that much is clear. You will be confused by your body, your voice trained to sound sweet, inoffensive. But you are you are you are you: A solitary man who lives between two worlds, looks in the mirror and sees only his (...)
THE DOG / by Goya
If I had to pick one painting at the Prado Museum The Maidens wouldn’t be my choice / too much for me.
Nor The Surrender of Breda I contemplate sitting on a bench for hours that seemed centuries.
Not even those drunken faces by Velázquez /my favorite painter, /the piece of (...)
NUMBERS
In some other city it’s always surprising to find what we expect of this country’s nights. Surprising to find that the scent my grandmother celebrated for years still exists.
1800 isn’t only an eau de cologne. Neither is it just a number, but something refused at every border yet still (...)
The Morning After
—To the children
It’s the morning after and the polar bear licks blood from his foot’s white fur. Ice is jagged and cuts, its islands recede to the beat of human denial. Far to the south: a dying parrot’s heart cries.
It’s the morning after and beneath the wall long scarring (...)
In her new book, Exporting Revolution, Margaret Randall explores the Cuban Revolution’s impact on the outside world, tracing Cuba’s international outreach in healthcare, disaster relief, education, literature, art, liberation struggles, and sports. Randall combines personal observations and (...)
RSS 2.0