It is nearly impossible to overstate the extent to which our recent political imaginations have been shaped, among many other things, through pandemic, climate catastrophe, policing, war, genocide, and gun violence. So much so that these realities often fall into the realm of the ordinary, asking us to deny or curtail our grief, and furthering us from reparation and healing. In our comeback issue of Apofenie Magazine, we are exploring the theme of “rekindling” as a way of envisaging, and perhaps even creating, possibilities for return, renewal, and recreation. This sense of rekindling is anchored in the good that has already existed, perhaps obscured by time or absence, yet it is a practice of restoration, one that locates and recognizes what can sustain and liberate life in the face of death.

FICTION

The Dam Keeper by Bianca Bellová
Translated from Czech by the author

Phoenix Ashes by Ubah Cristina Ali Farah
Translated from Italian by Clara Hillis

Soňa and children by Richard Pupala
Translated from Slovak by Julia and Peter Sherwood

Too Heavy a Weapon by Marek Šindelka
Translated from Czech by Graeme Dibble

Breath by Khrystia Vengryniuk
Translated from Ukrainian by Kate Tsurkan

August by Kateryna Zarembo
Translated from Ukrainian by Kate Tsurkan

POETRY

Sand Covered City by Munawwar Abdulla

Untitled (from "Stitches") by Doina Ioanid
Translated from Romanian by Monica Cure

Conatus by Dan Sociu
Translated from Romanian by Monica Cure

K. 7:00 by Krista Szöcs
Translated from Romanian by Monica Cure

In an attempt to escape my doubts &
excerpts from the cycle "Pebbles," by Vasyl Stus
Translated from Ukrainian by Bohdan Tokarsky and Julius Kochan

Three wartime poems by Natalka Marynchak
Translated from Ukrainian by Lada Kolomiyets

letters & essays

Slovo: More than a word by Ada Wordsworth

We, Internally Displaced Persons, by Yevhenii Monastyrskyi

Enjoy this issue? Consider becoming a patron of Apofenie Magazine for as little as $5 a month and get first access to our content.