Letter From the Editor, 2010 Ping-Pong

Dear Reader,

This issue marks our fourth offering of Ping-Pong. It is as singular as those in years’ past. We remain committed to publishing the best of what’s out there while maintaining our artistic bent. We publish those works embodying the spirit of Anaïs Nin and Henry Miller. We are also honoring the legacy of the Henry Miller Memorial Library which has as its raison d’etre a commitment to artists way out on the cliff’s edge.

We also love to publish poets in translation. We believe a journal of art and literature is a fraud if it does not include those works in the world around us. I am reading the complete works of César Vallejo at the moment, and am inspired by his world vision, this poet of the Andes who moved to Europe and died penniless and unappreciated. Most everyone who reads him today agrees on his genius. I am always saddened by those artists who never received any support in their lifetime, or worse, were castigated. This, of course, also happened to that greatest of artists, Vincent Van Gogh.

The artists in this issue are mostly right at the beginning of stellar careers.  Cynthia Cruz’s poetry cuts a hole into your heart with an exacto knife. Laura Sims takes you on a slow ride through a river of words at once delicate and full of weight. We also have another essay from the Congo, this time by Congolese activist Kambale Musavali. When he sat through the movie Avatar, he couldn’t help but be struck by the overwhelming similarities between the Pandorans and the Congolese. America has a responsibility in the war of resources being waged in the DRC, we can help to stop the overwhelming violence faced by its citizens daily.

Jennifer K. Sweeney returns to the pages of Ping-Pong having just received the James Laughlin poetry award from the Academy of American poets. Accompanying her poems are the mixed media prints of her father, Richard Kochanek.

Finally, it is with great sadness that we mourn the loss of our friend, Tey Roberts. We would like to dedicate this issue of Ping-Pong to her memory. If you ever drive through the Carmel Highlands you can still see her hand painted signs for peace on the roadside. She was that rare person who actually served as an example of the way of the Buddha.

We miss her.

Maria Garcia Teutsch

Editor-in-Chief