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Alone in Babel, Arts & CultureJuly 7, 2014

Quarter-finals: Scotland-Pakistan

PREAMBLE

Pakistan are finally back in Poetry World Cup action after a slightly controversial walkover in the second round: Ireland’s representative, Anatoly Kudryavitsky, withdrew on the grounds that he felt the result was a foregone conclusion. Since then, Pakistan’s vote total has been overtaken by several other countries, and Scotland — the last European representatives in the tournament — have plenty of reasons for optimism heading into today’s match. Taking inspiration from Shakespeare’s best-known Scot once again, can Ryan Van Winkle’s poem ‘Like valour’s minion/ Carve out [its] passage’ to the World Cup semis?

MEET THE POETS

Ryan Van Winkle comes from Connecticut, but has been based in Edinburgh for over a decade and represents Scotland in our world cup. He is currently Poet-in-Residence at Edinburgh City Libraries, and he records a weekly podcast for the Scottish Poetry Library. The Glasgow Review has described his poetry as being “at the forefront of a shift to something new, it is on the way to a perfection of some new movement.”

Mehvash Amin is currently editor-in-chief of HELLO! Pakistan, and was editor of lifestyle magazine Libas International for 11 years. Her poetry has been published in an anthology, ‘Tangerine in the Sun’, and in a number of international magazines, including Vallum and Sugar Mule. ‘Karachi’, the poem chosen to represent Pakistan in the Poetry World Cup, was among The Missing Slate’s Pushcart nominees last year.

FORM GUIDE

Pakistan notched up the highest vote total of the opening round in a 28-vote win against Ghana, but will they be lacking match sharpness after the bye in round two? Scotland, meanwhile, have safely negotiated two all-European matches, finishing 9 votes ahead of Denmark in round one and eight votes ahead of Russia in their last game. Most importantly, they’ve done much, much better than England.

Ryan Van Winkle                       

Wait, Listen, If

If you are reading this
I hope you are going slow,
that the gulls have clasped
their constant beaks. If
the roads are icy, test
the brakes when you are alone
see if you slide. Leave
the fools and cowboys
to their wreckage…

~ Ryan Van Winkle

Read the full poem

Karachi

We must learn to quarter fear,
dice it, serve it on plates
in manageable portions.

Instead, it is etched like
a hologram against the sky,
starting out of the sockets

of buses burnt on the road…

~ Mehvash Amin

Read the full poem

 

RESULT: Pakistan won by 23 votes

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mehvash aminPoetry World CupRyan Van Winkle

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Next articleQuarter-finals: India-Laos

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One last love letter...

April 24, 2021

It has taken us some time and patience to come to this decision. TMS would not have seen the success that it did without our readers and the tireless team that ran the magazine for the better part of eight years.

But… all good things must come to an end, especially when we look at the ever-expanding art and literary landscape in Pakistan, the country of the magazine’s birth.

We are amazed and proud of what the next generation of creators are working with, the themes they are featuring, and their inclusivity in the diversity of voices they are publishing. When TMS began, this was the world we envisioned…

Though the magazine has closed and our submissions shuttered, this website will remain open for the foreseeable future as an archive of the great work we published and the astounding collection of diverse voices we were privileged to feature.

If, however, someone is interested in picking up the baton, please email Maryam Piracha, the editor, at maryamp@themissingslate.com.

Farewell, fam! It’s been quite a ride.

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