Foreword

Abstract

FOREWORD In this issue Kay Bonetti offers a rare interview of Chinua Achebe, one of the most brilliant and revered African writers of this age. Achebe's several novels, including Things Fall Apart, Arrow of God, and A Man of the People, are based in the history of Nigeria since the arrival of the British, and on the belief that understanding the present requires knowledge of the past. He sees the clash between European and Ibo culture as tragic, and his overall viewpoint is large, looking at all sides of the conflict—from that of the British to the tribal councils. In the complex Anthills of the Savannah Achebe works out what he sees as a solution, what must be done to appease this embittered colonial history. In looking over our selection of poets, we discovered that they include several who established their roots in Missouri and have gone on to become nationally known. We are especially pleased that the McAfee Discovery Feature poet is Mike White, a graduate of the University of Missouri and former student of Tom McAfee. Candida Lawrence's nonfiction essay "Change of Circumstance" explores the controversial subject of a mother who lives out the fantasy of many divorced parents—against the will of the court taking her own children from the father, who had been granted custody, and disappearing with them. Sherwood Anderson's hitherto unpublished "Moonshine," edited by Bill Holtz, is this issue's Found Text, an intriguing metafiction written a half-century before the popularity of metafiction. SM ¡¡ rtwe LUNCH. I W¿: BL- . láifr i ? -" /b/effc&ldi ...