Khaled Mattawa

Editor’s Note to Special Folio: On Langston Hughes’s “Let America Be America Again”

As we were assembling this issue and imagining the contributions we would receive, we foresaw some of the challenges that the theme of American democracy would present to our contributors. Over the ages, a great deal of ink, paper, and pixels have been spent on politics, in belles-lettres, the press, and academia. Political chatter on …

Editor’s Note to Special Folio: On Langston Hughes’s “Let America Be America Again” Read More »

Foreword: Celebrating Our Emerging Writers

By Khaled Mattawa

In the words of Stephanie Glazier, we, having gotten to what seems like a cultural and political impasse, are seeking “something that means / not only sings praise.” And as if responding to the same impulse, Yun Wei tells us that we need to go beyond our familiar routes or roads, we must invent ways of moving and growing that will carry us with them and assure us that “this is not the end.”

Celebrating 60 years of MQR

By Khaled Mattawa

This special issue celebrates Michigan Quarterly Review’s sixtieth anniversary, a remarkable milestone for any publication, let alone one devoted exclusively to literature and the arts. A special selection of previously published works was one of the first things we decided on for celebrating our anniversary. For several years at MQR we have been exploring and …

Celebrating 60 years of MQR Read More »

A Note From the Editor

By Khaled Mattawa

It’s arguable that in 1971 the Shah of Iran himself ignited the revolution that overthrew his regime eight years later. In a week-long series of ostentatious, garish festivities, the Shah celebrated the 2,500th year of the Foundation of the Imperial State of Iran, an event no one thought relevant except himself. He commissioned the building …

A Note From the Editor Read More »