[Siham Karami]

So sad to hear of Gene Doty's passing. I always loved reading The Ghazal Page and didn't realize he was that ill. Definitely we'd like to do something to keep the archive. I imagine his family would like that.

On a side note in reference to pronunciation issues, I can't speak for the Farsi, but in Arabic, ghaZAL (where zal rhymes with pal) means gazelle or deer, and GHAzzle or GHUZzle means "flirtation." I was told by Ghazal Expert Mary Meriam that the proper meaning is the latter. Also, although the form popularized now is considered Persian in origin, the terminology sounds very Arabic to me: "sher" (pronounced more gutturally in Arabic) means "poem" for example. So I guess it relates to both traditions which in turn are related.

And finally, congrats, Jean, on your excellent ghazals which I enjoyed! And to all the fine contributors. May they enter perpetuity one way or another.

Siham

[Esther Murer]

So sorry to hear about Gene. When it's time to lay it down.... Oh, my.

[Janice D. Soderling]

I am sad to read the news about Gene Doty. I followed his page for a long time, though I never got up the nerve to send anything.

Thanks Mary for posting here.

[Terese Coe]

Charming, Jean! Kudos!

[Mary Cresswell]

http://ghazalpage.com

edited by Holly Jensen - a huge issue, and all sorts of exciting things

[Jean Syed]

Janice, Siham and I are in the online edition.

[Janice D. Soderling]

And other Sphere members as well: Toni Clark, Jean Kreiling, Esther Murer, and Barbara Lydecker Crane. And Mary Cresswell as well--thanks for posting.

Warm welcome to Eratosphere, Jean Syed! Looking forward to seeing more fine work from you here and elsewhere.

[Mary Cresswell]

Quote from the website, which is now open with Ghazal Page #58

www.ghazalpage.com

Enjoy poems lush with romance, sex, loss and longing, faith, and politics (bankers, veterans, refugees, exiles, and drones all make appearances)... Issue 58 also revels in the beauty of art. Yousuf bin Mohammad evokes Agha Shahid Ali, Jean L. Kreiling talks Steinbeck, and Esther Greenleaf Murer takes John Ashbery's lead-- meanwhile, Anne Pitkin celebrates song and dance, and Beatriz F. Fernandez and William Dennis muse on paintings, both classical and contemporary.
Alongside exceptional, original Persian ghazals, you'll also find qasida, tercets, free verse ghazals from Ann Howells, Sunil Uniyal's translation of Mir Taqi Mir, and delightful experimental approaches from Jan Zlotnik Schmidt, Karla Linn Merrifield, Huma Azeem, and Alexander Tokarev.
Holly Jensen, Editor

[Siham Karami]

Ah yes, this is an old thread, but why not update it? In this new issue, besides those mentioned above, Seree Zohar and myself also have ghazals there. Plus many other fine writers who are not Spherians, and someone I may have missed... It's a spectacular issue again and well worth checking out.