From the Upcoming Issue

Dedication

Would I were good. Or even, God—
with one bright hand on the world,
the other, holding the sun,
easing it up and down.

As I'm neither good, nor God,
but a man,
arranging his life for the windmills to grind along—
effort, followed by effort, more effort—

and as I therefore bend to certain whims—
to know more of man's brain,
raise more of his speed,
build more of his bones—

then for goodness sake I pray for them.
The gods, I mean. I mean the gods.

--Susan Parr

MARE NOSTRUM is an annual anthology of work inspired by the presence and legacy of the Mediterranean basin in language, art, civilization, and culture. We love pyramids, psalms, and Pythagorean theorems. We believe in vino, veritas. We live to travel, and admire travelers of all means and persuasions, especially those who take good notes.

We seek writing that lives in several worlds nimbly, lucidly, that explores and revitalizes ancient and contemporary history and myth.

We publish poems, translations, travelogue, and tales, tall & short, along with critical essays and reviews. We invite original and innovative work informed by the traveling life, tempered by the climate, currents and appetites of that vital middle sea—our sea, and yours, for a song.