Lviv Variations

Leaving Lviv

Agata Izabela Brewer | Guernica | 9th March 2022

Musings on the poetry of Lviv, western Ukraine. The city was in five countries during the 20C as borders were redrawn, and post 1945 hundreds of thousands of ethnic Poles were deported to their "homeland". "The culture of Lviv changed with each exile, with every life lost; it is not one thing but an amalgam of many peoples, a child of human migratory paths and constantly shifting borders" (1,195 words)

Variations On A Theme

Raffi Joe Wartanian | Lapham's Quarterly | 9th March 2022

Tracing the history of the oud, a stringed instrument similar to a lute or tanbur. Originating in central Asia, it spread across Europe and the Middle East as different conquering powers waxed and waned. Armenia has a strong contemporary tradition of oud playing and the music Armenians have composed for it has great resonance for the diaspora (3,208 words)

First person to send us a photo of themselves with an oud gets a complimentary Browser subscription. (Bonus points if you actually know how to play it).

Video: The Carso by F. T. Marinetti | Getty Research Institute.  Animated performance of an illustrated text by the Italian Futurist poet from 1917. No English translation, but the language is delightful without (2m 12s)

Afterthought:
"Don't bother about being modern. Unfortunately, it is the one thing that, whatever you do, cannot avoid"
- Salvador Dali