FOREWORD
After an unexpected hiatus, POUi returns. This issue is figuratively and in a real sense, all
about time. A lot has happened in the period between this issue and the last one: political,
environmental, cultural changes that have created, in some cases, significant paradigm shifts in
how we work, communicate, and create. Does this mean that the content of this issue shows
the passage of time? Yes, very much so, as an essential backdrop to what helps us confront
human existence as finite, dynamic and valuable. The poems and stories in this issue highlight
how small but nonetheless crucial moments coexist alongside, and within, grander movements
of time. It is those moments, in their complexity, sometimes out of startling simplicity, that are
deftly captured in these pages. The theme of time and the changes it brings as well as those it
witnesses is the thread that loosely draws together the work found here. From the
transformations wrought by intimate relationships to the pursuit of closely held desires, time
directly or indirectly has a role whether as an unavoidable constant or a surprising intervention.
The works are grouped into further sections – each predictably partnered with time – but that is
where the predictably ends. Any further connections, overlaps and delightfully unexpected
insights, we leave the works to yield to each reader. Welcome to those for whom this will be a
new encounter, welcome back to those who have patiently waited.
This issue is special not only because it is the quiet resumption of the journal, but it is also our
twentieth publication. We therefore celebrate the fulfilment of this desire to provide a platform,
from within the Caribbean, for creative writing from 1999 to 2018 and look forward to its
future milestones. Speaking for the editorial board, we are happy to finally bring you POUi
XX – it’s about time we did.
From the editor: Nicola Hunte
4
Made with FlippingBook Digital Publishing Software