Summer Issue Preview

The Summer issue of VQR is in the mail to subscribers and will be on newsstands in early July, but we’re offering a preview of one of our most thought-provoking issues yet.

The issue opens with a special portfolio on the war in Iraq. The political dimension of the sectarian strife in Iraq has received a great deal of attention, but few of us are aware of the realities of daily life in the country. We commissioned three photographers—all who have won awards for their work in Iraq—to offer a portrait of life in Iraq through their photos and recollections.

Two of these accounts, by Carolyn Cole (LA Times) and Chris Hondros (Getty Images), dramatize the extent of the daily violence and the constant tension that exists even during moments of calm. The third, by Ashley Gilbertson (NY Times), concentrates on the psychological effects of such unrelenting danger—on American soldiers, on the Iraqi people, and on the journalists who cover the war. Collectively, these photo-essays provide a stunningly clear and eye-opening look at what’s happening in Iraq, which we believe is of the utmost importance as we, as a country, try to decide how best to proceed in the Middle East.

Other highlights of the issue include:

• Matthew Power delivers a heart-breaking reminiscence of Brad Will, the American journalist and videographer killed last fall during the street riots in Oaxaca, Mexico.

• Mario Vargas Llosa gives us a remarkable, fictional glimpse of the Colombia Peru of his youth in an exclusive excerpt from his forthcoming novel The Bad Girl (SUBSCRIPTION REQUIRED FOR ONLINE ACCESS).

• Fiction newcomer Beena Kamlani spins an O. Henry-like tale set in the kitchens of Bombay.

• Poems by Charles Wright, Czechoslovakian poet Jirí Orten (introduced by Edward Hirsch), Alberto Ríos, Robin Ekiss, and others.

• Reviews of new novels by Thomas Pynchon and Michael Chabon, plus Michael Collier on Louise Bogan, and Adam Kirsch on Yeats, Pound, and Auden (SUBSCRIPTION REQUIRED).