Kartika_Issue15

ISSUE 15 | SPRING 2013
readers, we have the privilege of being the first audience to receive this
masterful insight into trauma and dementia, told in twenty-two sections
wrought with an unflinching honesty that comes only after years of
deliberate (and likely excruciating) reflection and questioning. I read Bliss’
piece last. And when I came to the end of it, I found myself in tears.
Many people have written about suicide. And cancer. And race and postapocalyptic
worlds, for that matter. But something compelled each author in
this issue of Kartika to challenge our understanding of some of humanity’s
most complicated topics. Only some give us redemption, but they all come
out baring the flesh of their characters and revealing what it means to be a
human in a broken world. Not a single author lies to us.
We also have the honor of featuring an interview with Monique Truong—
author of The Book of Salt and Bitter in the Mouth—who creates characters
who live as outsiders in their stories but possess a beautiful humanity that
Truong explores to connect them intimately to her readers.
Issue 15 is a personal gift for me. I expected to “enjoy” being an editor, but I
didn’t expect to be changed. I didn’t expect my first issue as poetry editor of
Kartika would bless me with a newfound conviction—that today’s Asian
American writers are working their asses off to pry open the mouths that
have stayed silent for too long. They are the voices our ancestors—even
some of our parents—never dared to long for. The voices that tell their truths
and tell them naked. Without shame. And through such meticulous
dedication to craft, we find healing and a new trajectory through which our
collective narrative will be shared for generations.
I thought I was signing on to be part of a magazine. Thank you, authors and
readers, for showing me that I’m signing on to be part of a movement.
Go relish this issue. And buy a copy for someone you love. See you at AWP!
Cheers,
Eugenia Leigh
Poetry Editor
9