About This Issue

Guest Editor, Lisa Chason
Lisa Chason is this month's guest editor of the Public I. Originally from New York City, Lisa returned last year to the US after living for 17 years in Amsterdam in the Netherlands as a self-proclaimed cultural exile. She came to Champaign-Urbana with her husband, Jan Nederveen Pieterse, now Professor of Sociology at UIUC and their two young daughters just days after September 11. She has a history of political activism going back to when she was a teenager and was very pleased to discover AWARE, the Anti-War Anti-Racism Effort, where she's made many like-minded friends and has been involved in a great range of activities. An editor by profession, she chose writing as the theme for this issue. Writing as in AWARE's recent postcard campaign in which over 500 people wrote to the Illinois senators not to attack Iraq; as in the Postcards for Peace art auction which will result in actual postcard and Christmas card designs; and in the letters in this issue -- to a father, to a community back home, to a teacher's head principal -- that all tell how deeply everyday life is affected by the politics and culture which surround us.

Guest Poet, Matthew Murrey
As many readers may know, the Public i often publishes poems from the website of Newspoetry. This month, however, we asked local poet Matt Murrey to share some of his work, a request to which he kindly agreed. Here's a brief biography of Matt, in his own words:

"I'm a Floridian by birth and a Peacenik by choice. I've worked a number of jobs in my life, but lately am a school librarian. I've been writing poetry for over fifteen years, and try to write poetry that does interesting things with English, but can be understood by most people. I write about a lot of different things – usually something that stirs me emotionally in some way. I've published quite a bit of my poems and even got an NEA fellowship several years ago – thanks Uncle Sam! I've been living in Urbana for ten years now and my partner and I have two neat kids. I know poetry won't save the world, but I think it's a good thing in its own right."