Letters from the Edge: Outrider Conversations

By excerpting from letters she exchanged with five irreverent writers and artists, Margaret Randall constructs conversations that open windows on four pivotal moments in her life and on world events. This correspondence touches on important themes, such as social change, identity, art, and creative integrity--issues that were relevant then and remain so today. The letters are sometimes philosophical, sometimes intimate, and deal with family life as well as major creative projects, including literary political publishing, often taken on against daunting odds. Society continuously tries to subsume or shape influential rebel minds to its interests. Every generation has those who will not allow themselves to be silenced or controlled. This book is exciting evidence of this.

Chapters:
I. Walter Lowenfels: A Poet Who Laughed at Time
II. Laurette Séjourné A Woman with Pick and Shovel and
Arnaldo Orfila: A Man Who Filled a Century
III. Susan Sherman: A Woman Before Her Time
IV. Greg Smith: A Painter Who Listens to Silence

Margaret Randall is a poet, writer, translator, photographer, and activist who has lived in New York, Mexico City, Havana, Cuba, Managua, Nicaragua, and Albuquerque, New Mexico, with short stays in North Vietnam and Lima, Peru. Her time in these places often coincided with major sociopolitical upheavals or pivotal historic moments. She edited an important bilingual literary magazine for eight years out of Mexico City and has known some of the great minds of her generation. When she returned to the United States, the US government ordered her deported because of opinions expressed in some of her books, and she was forced to wage a five-year battle for restoration of citizenship. Her correspondence with those she met along the way makes for exciting reading.

Randall is the recipient of numerous international awards and the author of over 200 books, four of which were published by New Village Press: My Life in 100 Objects, Artists in My Life, Risking a Somersault in the Air, and Luck.