Review of ARKHAI - an interdisciplinary publication

Revue Αρχαι (Arkhai), trans- et inter-disciplinaire
A French language interdisciplinary publication with limited English text

First issue: September 1993
Co-founder and Editor: Ákos Dobay
ISSN: 1661-139X

Title etymology: "arkhai" (plural of arkhon) - a term from Greek philosophy meaning "starting points" or "first principles"

Among the contributing authors are:
Daniel Eisler, Christophe Herzog, Ana Elsner, Nicolas Monod, Wiebo van Toledo, Séverine Viret, Tatiana Zarubina

"Ce qui rend la revue Arkhai si convaincante, c'est la compétence des rédacteurs à fusionner organiquement l'art et la science de l'écriture à la créativité des arts visuels et la représentation expressive de la musique. En intégrant ces catégories et leurs nombreuses sous-catégories dans le contenu de chaque numéro, Arkhai présente le plus large éventail de disciplines et de plates-formes, allant des mathématiques à l'histoire en passant par la politique, la culture, la philosophie et le lyrisme. Il montre aussi leurs multiples combinaisons, en capturant l'objectivité présente dans les sciences exactes, ainsi que la subjectivité inhérente aux sciences humaines et à l'interprétation des différents points de vue individuels. Avec beaucoup de succès Arkhai réunit les diverses manifestations de tous ces éléments et montre clairement leur interdépendance.
Nous devons reconnaître cette interdépendance afin de décoder les principes fondamentaux de la nature humaine et de l'existence." - Ana Elsner





"What makes the Arkhai Review so compelling is the expertise of the editors to organically merge the art and the science of writing with the creativity of the visual arts and the expressive representation of music. By incorporating these categories and their many subcategories within the contents of each issue, Arkhai presents the broadest spectrum of disciplines and platforms, from mathematical, historical, political, cultural, philosophical to lyrical. It also shows manifold combinations thereof, capturing the objectivity found in the study of the sciences, as well as the subjectivity found in the study of the humanities and in the interpretation of individual points-of-view. Arkhai successfully unites the distinctive manifestations of all these elements and clearly demonstrates their interrelatedness.
We must acknowledge this interrelatedness in order to decode the fundamental principles of human nature and existence." - Ana Elsner

--- Click image to go to the ARKHAI website ---



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For Diane di Prima (poem)

Ana Elsner wrote this poem for fellow woman poet Diane di Prima, a feminist icon whose poetry is succinct and often provocative.

di Prima
By Ana Elsner
2006


unbridled
bard
of
Beats

unburdened yourself

of Brooklyn

of babies
backached
into
being


your spindle
bearing
bobbin
of
woman


rebirthing yourself

poem
by
poem


bones
of
blindstitched
bliss




[Di PRIMA by Ana Elsner was published in Ambush Review - Poems for the 21st Century, Premiere Issue, 2010.]

Diane di Prima, born 1934 in Brooklyn, New York, is known as the most prominent woman Beat poet and a fervent social justice activist. She succeeded in making a breakthrough as a liberated female intellectual. Her writing spans imagist, political and mystical modes. It also deals with her extraordinary life, creative expression of identity, sexual experimentation and personal introspection. As early as in her high school days she made a lifelong commitment to be a poet. After coming to California, Di Prima first joined the Diggers, a radical community-action group of Improv actors in the Haight-Ashbury and lived in a commune. Later she studied Zen Buddhism, Sanskrit and alchemy, and raised her five children. Much of her writing reflects on female archetypes and Eastern philosophies. Di Prima is a poet, prose writer, memoirist, playwright, activist and teacher and the author of 44 books of poetry and prose. She served as the fifth Poet Laureate of San Francisco.

"Sweetheart, when you break thru you'll find a poet here, not quite what one would choose." -Diane di Prima



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[See also:

Ana Elsner's poem about poet George Tsongas

Ana Elsner pays tribute to poet Tony Vaughan]


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POEMS MAKE THE WORD GO ROUND (event review)

On Tuesday, February 23, 2010, the typical San Francisco fog was replaced by a torrential downpour, thanks to the capricious weather pattern known as El Niño. Despite this handicap a loyal flock of dyed-in-the-wool poetry fans made their way to the Joe DiMaggio Clubhouse in North Beach to see and hear Ana Elsner perform at her poetry show which she titled POEMS MAKE THE WORD GO ROUND, a library sponsored event featuring poetry and music. They were amply rewarded with a dynamic program where Ana demonstrated the close relationship between these two forms of creative expression.

Poet Ana Elsner is not only a repeat feature at the Library, but she was also the producer and creative director of this powerful artistic dialog, choosing the voice of the oboe to complement her own voice.

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Rather than relying on the Library's graphic artist, Ana Elsner designed the poster for her show herself saying,

"I am essentially a writer, but every once in a while I enjoy dabbling in artwork."

A framed watercolor by Elsner depicting a quote from one of her poems enhanced the setting at the event.

Ana Elsner is known for her animated presentation of her poetry that never fails to captivate the audience. The selective grouping of her poems in four sets did justice to the amazing range of her poetic repertoire. Her invited musical guest, principal oboist of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, Laura Griffiths matched the intensity of Elsner's poetry with a masterful delivery of oboe solos, among them works by German Baroque composer Georg Philipp Telemann and by Benjamin Britten.

This pairing of seasoned performers made for a magical and memorable evening. A special thank you goes to the San Francisco Public Library for continuing to fund Ana Elsner's poetry programs.

See event listing at The Academy of American Poets


Find out about Ana Elsner's favorite musical instrument


Click to find more past events


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About George Tsongas in my Life

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Veteran poet George Tsongas (1926-2010), a landmark in San Francisco's poetry scene, died in an acute care hospital in San Leandro, California, on January 15, 2010. He was 83 years old. Throughout his lifetime he maintained that his job as a poet was to "describe reality beyond sight."


Fellow poet Ana Elsner talks about her friendship with George Tsongas:

"When I first came to San Francisco in 1976 I lucked into and rented a tiny studio apartment on Telegraph Hill, three steep blocks up from Café Trieste. I immediately felt at home in what I called 'my village', which was clearly delineated and was proud and autonomous among the surrounding neighborhoods. North Beach was an Italian village and suited my European roots and aesthetic. Industrious Italian immigrants raised up their families and businesses there, held the majority of property there, lived out their senior years there. Italian was spoken and so was poetry. There was a benign coexistence between 'Little Italy' and its Bohemian enclave which incorporated iconic literary haunts like Ferlinghetti's City Lights bookstore. Poetry was as much a fact of life as were espresso and Chianti. I fast became a habitué of the passionate poetry readings at Bannam Place, the Old Spaghetti Factory and many other neighborhood hang-outs where poets held forth. These places and the faces that populated them live on in my memory. It was there that I met George Tsongas.

By the time I arrived, George Tsongas, who came to San Francisco in 1945, occupied the solid position of well-known and outspoken resident poet with a sizeable following. After having had many animated conversations about poetry, people, politics and travelling, George and I struck up an easy friendship that was based on a mutual curiosity about each other's experience and point-of-view and on a strong sense of camaraderie. I came to spend much time at his Victorian flat on Harrison Street and later at his digs above Enrico's on Broadway. Over a span of 30+ years I was an intimate witness to the creation of a vast body of his work written in a unique and no-nonsense voice. He developed and stayed true to his very own style, a style that I have characterized as intuitive, succinct, condensed, and packing a punch of realism that cuts to the core and is intentionally provocative. George Tsongas' passionate interpretations of the human condition are closely aligned with my own.

George would always give me typed pages, often smudged and dog-eared, of poems and bits of his manuscripts and various revisions thereof. I would always comment at length, a routine between us that he seemed to appreciate as much as I did. Ours was a relationship of trust and affection. He was at my wedding in 1983. I look at the old album: there he is, champagne glass in hand, big smile on his face, eyebrows as bushy as ever, but black with just a little grey beginning to show in the middle where his brows join. Our friendship outlasted my marriage by more than a decade.

When I stepped out as a poet in my own right, I adopted the same unabashed attitude in my writing that permeates George Tsongas' work. I, like him, remain unfettered from convention, affiliation, judgment, real or perceived boundaries. I believe that it is the trademark of the poet to exercise the ultimate freedom of creative expression.

Thank you, George, for having been and continuing to be a part of my life,"

Ana Elsner, Poet

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GEORGE AT THE CAFE - A Snapshot

By Ana Elsner
2007



The old poet sits heavy in his chair at the Café
with a weight that years of swallowing-up
life's richest stew of sweet and sour
have layered on his frame.

This is a man who would not be seduced with dainty trifles,
with empty fluff of palate or philosophy.

This is a man who tasted the salty sweat of honest labor,
the earthy grit of native Greece,
the savory dishes of foreign shores,
the meaty texture of self-worth,
the tangy zest of love,
the bitter wormwood of corruption and of prejudice,
the allspice of the human condition at its most flavorful,
and all the fragrant herbs of Southern France.

His is a life compacted and metabolized
into a solid presence,
that is reflected in his every poem,
meticulously chiseled out on his old typewriter.

This is a poet who needs no muse for inspiration.
His own 'muse-ings' give voice to a wealth of insights into humanity
or inhumanity, as the case may be.

He is an island unto himself, untouched by the surrounding maelstrom
of artifice, indignity and plagiarism.
He is authentic, self-made, self-maintained, and often unapproachable.

Looking out from under the thick brush of his white brow
his gaze seems to be transfixed, in some private limbo,
while unbeknownst to the outside world his mind is playing
through the lines of his new poem like fingers on a keyboard.

His slowness of gait gives no outward indication
of his youthful agility of thought.

Disdainful of the scholars, the pundits, the consumers and society at large,
he writes for no one in particular
and follows the dictates of his own convictions.

After several failed attempts, George pulls himself up from the chair,
does two or three gyrations of his hips in order to relieve
the ache and stiffness in his bones, and, giving a nod
to the proprietor of the Café, shuffles down Columbus Avenue.



(From CIPHERS OF UNCOMMON ORIGIN - Poems By Ana Elsner)

Ana added this footnote: The café in the poem is Café Puccini, owned by Graziano Lucchese, where George would often go to take a break.

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