In 1974, Laird Koenig published the novel The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane. A film version, directed by Nicolas Gessner and starring Jodie Foster, appeared two years later. A dramatic adaptation by Mr. Koenig was published decades after in 1997. Considered a one-of-a-kind thriller and cult classic, TLGWLDTL now undergoes a considerably extensive analysis by Canadian poet R. W. Watkins. A longtime fan of writer Koenig and actress Foster, Watkins examines the story from various angles, pointing out its Judeo/Christian themes, Holocaust symbolism, film continuity errors, similarities to...

Editor R. W. Watkins presents the long-awaited third issue of Contemporary Ghazals--the world's first English-language journal dedicated to the classical style of Asian poetry that lends it its title. No. 3 features ghazals by Vivek Sharma, Denver Butson, Marcyn Del Clements, Ann Keith, I. H. Rizvi, Nicola Masciandaro, William Dennis, Steffen Horstmann, Bill West and Watkins himself. It also contains Watkins's lengthy review of The Rebel's Silhouette--a 1995 collection of ghazals and other poems by the legendary Faiz Ahmed Faiz (1911-1984), translated from the Urdu by the late Agha Shahid...

Editor R. W. Watkins presents the fourth issue of Contemporary Ghazals--the world's first English-language journal dedicated to the classical style of Asian poetry that lends it its title. No. 4 features ghazals by Steffen Horstmann, Denver Butson, Barbara Little, Daniel Hales, Vivek Sharma, Ann Keith, I. H. Rizvi, William Dennis, and Watkins himself. It also contains Watkins's lengthy review of Her Lover's Beloved: 51 Ghazals by Hafez--a 2009 volume of verse translated from the Persian by Mahmood Karimi-Hakak and Bill Wolak. A selection from this volume is reprinted in the 'Classic...

Editor R. W. Watkins presents the fifth issue of Contemporary Ghazals--the world's first English-language journal dedicated to the classical style of Asian poetry that lends it its title. No. 5 features ghazals by Steffen Horstmann, Denver Butson, John Philip Drury, Mike Alexander, Eugene A. Melino, Daniel Hales, William Dennis, Linda Umans, Leland Jamieson, and Watkins himself. It also contains Watkins's review of Tears of Blood: Selected Verses of Ghalib -- a 2014 volume of ghazals by the legendary 19th century Indian poet, translated from the Urdu by Sunil Uniyal. A selection from this...

Eastern Structures picks up where Contemporary Ghazals left off, publishing English-language examples of the Middle Eastern form, but now in addition to Korean sijo and Japanese forms such as haiku and tanka -- rendered exclusively in the 5-7-5 and 5-7-5-7-7 syllabic structures. Issue 2 features the poetry of Denver Butson, William Dennis, Steffen Horstmann, L J McDowall, Priscilla Lignori, Clark Strand, Bill West and M K Punky (Michael Konik), among others; and the literary essays of Clark Strand and Jim Wilson. Issue 3 is expected in early Spring 2017, and submissions of traditionally...

The Canada into which Contemporary Ghazals No. 1 was published in the summer of 2003 was not exactly a hospitable one. The Canadian literary scene of the day was simply out of sync with editor R. W. Watkins's higher technical standards and international poetic perspective. Too formal and intellectual for the artsy 'hipster' division of Generation X (represented by such publications as Broken Pencil and This Magazine); too exotic and 'indie' for the academics and writers' organisations (e.g., The League of Canadian Poets), who-in the words of Watkins--merely take solace in each other's...