“I wouldn't worry too much about accuracy and that sort
of thing. After all, what's attractive (or the reverse)
here is the senator's spin on things. And we imagine
he'll spin like the teacups ride at Disneyland.”
—from “A History of the African American People by Strom Thurmond, As Told to Percival Everett and James Kincaid”
TRANSITION 93: Table of Contents
DISPATCHES____________________
Hold That Tiger
Every country gets the pop music it deserves. And
Sri Lanka—a fractious island-nation, thrice colonized
and still riven by civil war—got baila,
a genre where surf-rock cavorts with calypso and John
Philip Sousa grapples with John Denver. Naresh
Fernandes takes the pulse of Casa Lanka.
Chomping at the Brit
John Bull has seen better days. The Millennium
Dome is closed, and the damp little island is becoming
something of a dump: home to massive unemployment,
crippling poverty, and a crumbling infrastructure.
Akash Keyes Kapur surveys England, capital
of the Third World.
Carnivalia
When she was a girl in Haiti, her uncle wouldn't let
her go to carnival. It was too dangerous: wayward
floats, lecherous men, bat-winged demons. When she
finally returned to attend for the first time, she
discovered a different sort of horror: Uncle Sam turning
away refugees; Adolf Hitler dancing with Papa Doc;
a grim reaper called AIDS. Edwidge Danticat
goes back to Haiti.
MEMOIRS____________________
Fucking India
A beginner's guide. By Avtar Singh.
Howdy, Patna
Patna in the 1970s was like any other Indian city,
a seedbed of frustration and political turmoil. But
for one boy, the things that really mattered were
bad porn, dirty jokes, and dogs copulating in the
streets. Amitava Kumar recalls the pleasures
of home.
FICTION____________________
The Executioner
That's me in the corner.
By Muhonjia Khaminwa
A History of the African American People by Strom
Thurmond
An epistolary parable.
As told to Percival Everett and James Kincaid
If you want to become a famous Caribbean writer, there's only one place to be. Edwidge Danticat, Haiti's best-known literary figure, found her voice by writing for her high school newspaper—in Brooklyn, New York. Sandy Alexandre and Ravi Y. Howard talk with her about reading, writing, and running away.