
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 grandchildren 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 Emplumado 7

El Corno #7 featured work by William Carlos Williams, Raquel Jodorowsky, Edmundo Valadez, Clayton Eshleman, Kenji Matsumoto, Robert Kelly, Barbara Moraff, William Wroth, Fielding Dawson, Eugenio Montale, Leonore Kendal, Homero Aridjis, Ezequial Saad, David Ray, and many others.
In this issue we published our first anthology of new Cuban poetry, thus breaking through the U.S.-imposed cultural blockade against that nation. This marked the beginning of an intense and important communication (...)

Most recent articles

Latest articles

Risking a Somersault in the Air: Conversations with Nicaraguan Writers
1 January, by Margaret Randall

In 1983, while living in Nicaragua, I interviewed some of the country’s leaders who also happened to be serious writers. The collection was released in 1984 by a small US publisher and, when it went out of business, was picked up and reedited by another. Eventually both editions went out of print. Almost four decades later, New Village Press brought out this revised and expanded edition—of particular interest now that the Sandinista politics of the 1980s have become twisted and vitiated by the autocratic rule of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo. Some of the original interviewees are now deceased. Others have been forced into exile. A few remain in their homeland. Nicaragua through the eyes of some of its finest writers.
Stormclouds Like Broken Promises
1 January, by Margaret Randall
Ode to Typography / Oda a la tipografia
1 January, by Margaret Randall

I have always been fascinated by typography, its art and history. This is a single long poem in a bilingual edition, translation by Sandra Toro. Casa Urraca Press in northern New Mexico produced the limited edition of 400, some of which I gifted to friends at the end of 2021.
Pensando pensamientos
1 January, by Margaret Randall

Rafael Mondragón translated these essays and Ediciones Heredad produced this lovely Spanish-language edition in Mexico. The publisher organized a bi-weekly online reading circle where participants discussed the essays and linked them to their own lives.
Dominga Rescues the Flat / Dominga rescata la bandera
1 January, by Margaret Randall

This book, in Spanish only, originally appeared in 1979 from Huracán Publishers in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico. For years I felt that an English version would be welcomed by Puerto Ricans living in the US and others interested in Puerto Rican history. This self-published edition was a labor of love, mainly undertaken by Marian McDonald, who wrote a necessary introduction and epilogue, with my input. I remember when Dominga de la Cruz, by then an elderly woman, called me one day in Cuba to ask if I would record her life history. I think she would be happy with this new edition.