January 2014 – Page 2 – Michigan Quarterly Review

January 2014

Grandmother, Sedigh Gharib

What’s in a name?

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* Kaveh Bassiri *

Do parents choose names in search of their children? My father wasn’t a poet, but he chose sound over meaning. He named his second son Kavoos, an unjust king in Shahnameh, and ended up naming his other sons with Persian words beginning with “ka.”

What’s in a name? Read More »

* Kaveh Bassiri *

Do parents choose names in search of their children? My father wasn’t a poet, but he chose sound over meaning. He named his second son Kavoos, an unjust king in Shahnameh, and ended up naming his other sons with Persian words beginning with “ka.”

Effort and Effortlessness in Motherwell’s Reconciliation Elegy

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* Mary Camille Beckman *

I had already loved Robert Motherwell’s painting Reconciliation Elegy (1978)—had already claimed it as my favorite painting—for years before I tried to account for that love, to support that claim. On a recent trip to Washington D.C., I brought my partner to the modern wing of the National Gallery, where the painting hangs, and as he looked at the vast canvas high on a far marble wall, he asked me, as if—of course, no problem—I’d know the answer to his question, “What do you like about it?”

Effort and Effortlessness in Motherwell’s Reconciliation Elegy Read More »

* Mary Camille Beckman *

I had already loved Robert Motherwell’s painting Reconciliation Elegy (1978)—had already claimed it as my favorite painting—for years before I tried to account for that love, to support that claim. On a recent trip to Washington D.C., I brought my partner to the modern wing of the National Gallery, where the painting hangs, and as he looked at the vast canvas high on a far marble wall, he asked me, as if—of course, no problem—I’d know the answer to his question, “What do you like about it?”

A Poem for the New Year: Noelle Kocot’s “This Is The Day”

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* Claire Skinner *

When I find myself in a confused mood such as this, which I would describe as classically ambivalent — that is, literally of two minds — I know I need a poem that will buoy and bolster my spirits, a poem that will remind me that my miniature psychodramas are simply part and parcel of this wonderful/terrible project we’re all engaged in. It’s called Daily Life.

A Poem for the New Year: Noelle Kocot’s “This Is The Day” Read More »

* Claire Skinner *

When I find myself in a confused mood such as this, which I would describe as classically ambivalent — that is, literally of two minds — I know I need a poem that will buoy and bolster my spirits, a poem that will remind me that my miniature psychodramas are simply part and parcel of this wonderful/terrible project we’re all engaged in. It’s called Daily Life.

Setting Off The New Year

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* A.L. Major *

Early November last year Renisha McBride, a 19-year-old African American woman, was shot outside the home of a 54-year-old white man in Dearborn Heights, Michigan. Several hours earlier, she had crashed her car into a parked vehicle. She couldn’t find her cellphone. She was drunk, high and possibly concussed. She was a young black woman looking for help in a society that routinely asserts black bodies are volatile, more likely to perpetuate violence than seek assistance. The Internet barely yawned at the news. The case was similar to Jonathan Ferrell’s yet its dissimilar treatment in the media seemed one more disappointing example of how America values the lives of African-American women in the year 2013.

Setting Off The New Year Read More »

* A.L. Major *

Early November last year Renisha McBride, a 19-year-old African American woman, was shot outside the home of a 54-year-old white man in Dearborn Heights, Michigan. Several hours earlier, she had crashed her car into a parked vehicle. She couldn’t find her cellphone. She was drunk, high and possibly concussed. She was a young black woman looking for help in a society that routinely asserts black bodies are volatile, more likely to perpetuate violence than seek assistance. The Internet barely yawned at the news. The case was similar to Jonathan Ferrell’s yet its dissimilar treatment in the media seemed one more disappointing example of how America values the lives of African-American women in the year 2013.

Llewyn Davis

Objects, elegy, and “Inside Llewyn Davis”

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* Eric McDowell *

If Inside Llewyn Davis comes up short of the Coen brothers’ best films in any way, it may be due to a lack of “objects” in a second sense of the word—objectives, desires, points toward which the narrative inevitably strives.

Objects, elegy, and “Inside Llewyn Davis” Read More »

* Eric McDowell *

If Inside Llewyn Davis comes up short of the Coen brothers’ best films in any way, it may be due to a lack of “objects” in a second sense of the word—objectives, desires, points toward which the narrative inevitably strives.

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