[Chris Childers]

While fully aware that I haven't posted here in quite a long time and thus have no real claim on the reciprocal good will of the community, it nonetheless seems reasonable that some people who post here but not on FB might be interested in this piece. So for them I offer my long, long, long, long essay-cum-review of former (and current?) Spherean Aaron Poochigian's recent Penguin Argonautica.

http://parnassusreview.com/archives/2217

TLDR version = read Aaron's translation. Also, lots of words about 3rd C Alexandria, if that's of interest.

I see things here are acrimonious as ever. Good old Sphere.

C

While I'm here, should I mention that I have a number of translations in this issue of Parnassus, a couple more forthcoming from New Haven Review, a few poems up in a recent issue of PANK, and a couple acceptances at Yale Review and Barrow Street? Maybe not, but I guess I will. fwiw. It goes without saying that I owe a great deal to this place and am deeply grateful to many people here.

[Quincy Lehr]

W3rd, Chris! Buzzang!

[Julie Steiner]

Originally Posted by Chris Childers

I see things here are acrimonious as ever. Good old Sphere.

Hey! Them's fighting words!

Welcome back, Chris, and I'm delighted to see you've been so productively occupied. I'll pop over to your review now, to see what Aaron has all those penguins doing in that famous ship.

[Julie Steiner]

Actually, the final six paragraphs of the review--oh, all right, the last seven, if one includes the bit about Orpheus and Harmony--are astonishingly relevant to recent squalls of acrimony here.

I encourage everyone to check out the review's ending, even if they don't have time at present to read the whole review (which I found very worthwhile per se).

Thanks, Chris. Great writing, and great timing.

[Bill Carpenter]

Congratulations, Chris, and thanks for the great news on Aaron's Jason.

With respect to acrimony, Julie, maybe you know the Chinese saying: bu da, bu xiangshi, commonly translated as, "without blows, no friendship grows."

[Michael Juster]

Yes, congratulations, Chris. I tweeted it this morning (@amjuster).

[Mary Meriam]

Kudos, Chris!

[Siham Karami]

Great news all around, Chris! Kudos, and I really enjoyed your poems!

[Julie Steiner]

Bill, what I meant was that I thought Chris's review's discussion of "the Other" in the review's conclusion brought an interesting historical perspective to the (sometimes acrimonious, whether here or elsewhere) debate about whether immigration's effect on cultural diversity of Western society is good or bad.

[Andrew Frisardi]

Nice work, Chris. I confess I've read only part of your review, to be continued when I get a copy of Aaron's translation. Which looks amazing.

Btw, got a bit of a laugh out of the evaluation of Termini train station as a symbol of Rome's present. I sure hope that Rome's immediate future is more promising than that irritating dump of place!