Sanity Amidst the Chaos: The Fifth Anniversary Edition of Life and Legends

Editorial

Sanity Amidst the Chaos: The Fifth Anniversary Edition of Life and Legends

  On June 15th, 2014, when the First Edition of Life and Legends was published online from Irvine, California, in the United States, that day, the full moon had occurred in Sagittarius, the sign of the Truth-speaker and Truth-seeker. Like the waxing moon, Life and Legends has grown ever since to bring light to the work of over five hundred writers from thirty five countries, who in their work also render truth, like Maya Angelou, in her poem “A Brave and Startling Truth.”

Life and Legends, primarily a poetry magazine in English, was founded with a vision to publish the work of new and lesser-known writers and translators. It was also designed to share space with known and established writers, who, by their work, inspire the new generation of writers and capture the hearts and imagination of their readers.

Moreover, it has also focused on a significant concern that many languages in the world are dying today, due to our negligence and bias toward them, which prevents one from reading, writing, translating, and publishing literature available in those languages. At Life and Legends, our goal is to counter any such challenges by putting our sincere efforts to translate and publish the literature available in these languages in both written and oral traditions.

Looking back at our five years, we feel happy to see this journey progressing in the direction to achieve our cherished goals. On this occasion, we want to thank everyone who has contributed to our success, and the Silent River Film and Literary Society (SRFLS) a Non-Profit mother organization of Life and Legends. A very special thanks to the founding members and board members of the SRFLS; and the editorial team and guest editors of Life and Legends for supporting us and believing in the vision we share.

The current edition of Life and Legends focuses on finding Sanity Amidst the Chaos of the decade we are about to leave behind. In this edition, we bring a special feature on Jennifer Reeser, focused on her latest collection of poems, Indigenous. Her interview and poetry search for the lost soul of America, waiting to be discovered by you. The translation highlights include German Poetry, Arabic Poetry, and Hindi poetry of Uday Prakash, Kunwar Narain, Katyayani, and others. Our poetry section highlights include the poems of Christopher Merril, Lee Upton, Yogesh Patel, MBE, Simone Liggins, Sarita Jenamani, and other significant names. In this edition, we also feature four magnificent female poets Usha Akela, Shadab Hashmi, Deema Shehabi, and Pramila Venkateshwaran, participating in our upcoming panel “Women Poets Sharing their Success Stories and Immigrant Experiences Through Poetry“ at AWP 2020 in San Antonio, Texas. A short story by Kunwar Narain translated from the Hindi by Jon Vater, and Apurva Narain with other features are the added bonus.

Most importantly, we bring a special presentation of the works of iconic American poets, and the translations of over a hundred international poets in a section  – Life and Legends: Five Years in Retrospect.

At the onset of the new year, we hope to read more inspirational works. We invite poetry and essays that can create a positive impact. We want to be mesmerized by your vision and unique observations. We would also be interested in publishing the work of Creative Activism in Art; Essays on Cultural Diplomacy, and Poetry that  also discovers the beauty and esthetic of life, essential to healing the earth.

I hope you like reading Sanity Amidst the Chaos: The Fifth Anniversary Edition of Life and Legends. May 2020 be the year of creativity, prosperity, peace, and happiness on earth.

Kalpna Singh-Chitnis
Editor-in-Chief – Life and Legends
December 31st 2019

@AccessKalpna
www.kalpnasinghchitnis.com

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