Caucasus Journal of Milton Studies

Editor’s Note

It does not seem possible that summer has fled, but welcome to the fall issue of our Journal.

Professor Edward Raupp has given us an article about a subject that is close to our hearts: The Gori Drama Club and Actors Studio. Edward and I launched this club two years ago in response to a request from a group of pupils at Public School #8 in Gori. As sponsors, our initial intent was to help improve the ability of these young people to speak English more accurately and confidently. But it soon became clear that they were serious about developing acting skills, and this past May, they presented an adapted version of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. We believe it is the first time in Georgia that school pupils have performed a Shakespeare play in English on a university stage. Dr. Raupp’s article examines both international and local efforts to use this medium in English language learning.

Eter Churadze’s gift is our first translation of a poem by a woman poet, Ana Kalandadze, who was one of the most influential female figures in modern Georgian literature. The themes of her poetry were often patriotism and romanticism, and they were frequently set to music. The translation of the poem When the winds were once in love is representative of her romantic bent.

Our Poetry section contains works by a quartet of young Nigerian poets. There is often a theme that runs through their poetry: the yearning for freedom in its many forms. It is overt in both Adeniran Abdbasit Adeyemi’s Liberate Me and Omotoso Daniel Oluwafunmilade’s When You See Me. The loss of it is the focus of Abdulrazaq Godwin Omeiza’s The Rain and the Lost Tires and in Elvis Izuchukwu Uzuegbu’s The Wars Within. It is not possible to read the poetry of these young men without feeling the pain of their lived experience of oppression. We are pleased to provide an opportunity for them to share their world with us.

Loss is also the theme of a poem by Professor Raupp, who laments the loss of democracy in the United States, our place of origin. For anyone who thinks “it can’t happen here,” take heed. It can.

We finish with Untitled by Tedo Sharadenidze, who asks what it takes to utter the words “I can’t make this work now.” The answer? Foolishness and some ignorant bliss.

On that note, I’ll thank all the contributors to our September issue, and invite our readers to send us the fruits of their creative labors.

With warm regards,
Danna Raupp
Editor-in-Chief