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2011 | Archive of Editor’s Letters: 2010 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005
Möbius 30th Anniversary Letter from the Editor-in-Chief/Publisher
 Juanita Torrence Thompson
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What can you say when Möbius, The Poetry Magazine has reached its 30th year of continuous publication, weathering the world of publishing and readers’ changing tastes? Möbius was born in Michigan in 1982, then moved to Delaware and sailed to New York under my helm in 2006.
Many thanks to everyone who helped make this 30th Anniversary edition of Möbius, The Poetry Magazine another memorable issue. We are blessed with four U.S. Poet Laureates alphabetically: Billy Collins, Rita Dove, Charles Simic and the 2012, Natasha Trethewey. Special thanks to my editorial staff in alphabetical order: Dominick Arbolay, Barbara Hantman, Cindy Hoffman, Ellaraine Lockie and Bill Roberts for their assistance in reading our plethora of submissions, and to production assistant Shareefah Mapp for her help. Huge thanks to our Möbius Board: Chereece Lawson our General Counsel, Darrell Hazelwood, Vice-President and Dr. Charlotte Phoenix, Board Secretary, for their unflinching year-long support since 2006. Special thanks to Robert Bly for granting permission to publish his translations of Lorca, Neruda and Rumi and to Charles Simic for approving one of the translations. Another special thanks to: Joseph Bruchac, Barbara Hantman, Maurice Kenny, Naomi Shihab Nye and Thaddeus Rutkowski for their invaluable help.
My gratitude to the translators: Boghos Artinian – Arabic, Shushan Artinian –Armenian, Ibtisam Barakat – Arabic, Shoma Berkemeyer – German, Jesse Bruchac — Abenaki (Native American), Rhina Espaillat – Spanish, Christian Garaud – French, Kevin Graham – Gaelige, Dr. Rajanand Jha— Hindi & Maithili, Hayriye llbeyll Karliova — Turkish, Yala Korwin – Polish, Michal Nachmany – Hebrew, Virgil Suarez — Spanish, Changming Yuan – Chinese, Alessio Zanelli – Italian, and Milenko Zupanovic – Croatian.
I am a firm believer in diversity, and I hope that through Möbius, The Poetry Magazine, I have shown that by the poems selected. For this 30th Anniversary issue, I had hoped for a few more joyous or celebratory poems, but… It is no mean feat to keep a poetry magazine afloat for 30 years. This is my seventh year as Editor-in-Chief and Publisher so I know of what I speak. Möbius has been cited as one of the best poetry magazines since 2006 by Small Magazine Review, edited by Len Fulton.
Speaking of Len Fulton, as usual, I pay tribute to literary figures we have reently lost. Since there are so many, I will limit them to people with whom I had some connection. Unfortunately, the literary world lost a major figure in Len. He was founder and editor of Small Press Review, which created a forum for poets and writers, their books and magazines. He was generous in highlighting my books and Möbius. Fortunately, his children are carrying on his legacy. I took a poetry Workshop at Baruch College with the late Lucille Clifton. In gratitude, another poet and I presented her with yellow roses, signifying friendship. I saw Lucille Clifton a year later at the Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival in New Jersey. Before she autographed her book, “I know you don’t remember me, but…” Her eyes lit up and she said, “Yes I do. You’re the lady with the hat who gave me flowers!” (Well that made my day.) Louis Reyes Rivera was considered by many as a living bridge between the African and Latino American communities. He was a professor of Pan African, African American, Caribbean and Puerto Rican literature and history, whose essays and poems have appeared in numerous publications. Louis invited me to read and discuss my poetry on his WBAI radio show. I, in turn, read with him in Brooklyn and Queens, along with Hal Sirowitz and Patricia Carragon. Louis was a showstopper!
Other losses were Peggy K Fletcher – a fine poet from Canada, who contributed her work annually to Möbius, as well as Iris Berman and Sue Machlin of Brevitas from an online poetry group which I belong to. Sue and I were mutually fond of each other’s work. One of my former associate editors, Dr. Jim Flanagan, passed away shortly after his annual literary trip to Ireland. His astute mind was a welcome addition to Möbius. Teju Vaswani, an erudite friend and member of Fresh Meadows Poets (Queens, NY) often invited us for tasty Indian fare while we discussed many topics, including travels to India. He will be missed. Barbara Hantman said, in part, this about another FMP member: “It was with great sadness that I learned of Israel Halpern’s passing on Monday December 26, 2011. Israel was a cheerful conversationalist who gave insightful feedback for revision at Fresh Meadows Poets meetings. The poems he shared with the group were eloquent, uplifting, enlightening and so well researched as to be educational. Israel wrote brilliant introductions to my poetry books. As he gave light to others, so he passed on, appropriately, during the Festival of Lights.”
Change is often rewarding, so is the addition of Associate Editor, Bill Roberts, whose 1,000 poems appear in the small press and are nominated for Best of the Net and Pushcart Prizes. He offers seminars on writing a poem in 15 minutes, prepping it for publication. His writing group published an anthology of poetry, “la forza di vita,” from Amazon. Bill annually hosts “Strong Voices, Strong Women,” readings honoring female poets, benefiting battered women. My proofreader, Barbara Hantman, is a Queens College Phi Beta Kappa with a Teachers College, Columbia University M.A. in the Teaching of English. She served a generation of NYC secondary students, and is Fresh Meadows Poets’ Corresponding Secretary. Barbara has been a monthly featured reader and lecturer at the New York Poetry Forum. Her books with Edwin Mellen Press and Xlibris feature a smattering of verse in Spanish and Hebrew.
On Aug 30, 2008, Israel emailed this to me: Re: The lovely latest issue of Möbius Juanita, Hi, I just opened my mailbox, and there was Möbius. What an excellent labor of love, Juanita. There are so many talented poets contained in such a beautifully designed book. I am savoring each page, each linguistic rendering. It is so wonderful that you have devoted so much time and energy and resources to the creation of such a collection. I look forward to reading each and every poem, and seeing future issues. Kudos and thank-yous for all your extraordinary exertions on behalf of poetry and spirit. Love, Israel” Halpern
Ellaraine Lockie says, “One of the delights in reading any issue of Möbius is its unique layout, wherein the poems are formatted in sections according to subject matter. You can “mood read” here if you choose, much like listening to music that is all in the same spirit. Specifically in the 29th Anniversary Issue, there is something for nearly every reader of poetry: free verse, haiku, aubade, sonnet, translation, prose poem—work from new poets that sits beside that of well-known ones in every part of the U. S., as well as in several other countries. Just Denise Duhamel's poem, “How It Will End,” is worth the price of this issue.”
When you receive Möbius 2012, we would have celebrated Möbius’ 30th Anniversary at the Episcopal Actors Guild in New York City. Jimmy Roberts, composer of award-winning musical, “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change,” would have tickled the ivories and sung his songs while I played host and read poetry from Möbius along with the following Möbius presenters: E.J. Antonio, Dominick Arbolay, Laura Boss, Patricia Carragon, Gil Fagiani, Daniela Gioseffi, Barbara Hantman, Cindy Hochman, Evie Ivy, Maria Lisella, George H. Northrup, Helen Peterson, Jimmy Roberts and Thaddeus Rutkowski.
Keep on reading and writing!
Poetry is the Music of the Soul.
— Juanita Torrence-Thompson,
Editor-in-Chief/Publisher
