Harare Review of Books

272 pages.

Expected publication date: July 18, 2023 (Three Rooms Press)

Non-fiction.

This is a moving and thoughtful exploration of war and peace, in poetry and visually through various kinds of art. The prompt for creatives was PEACEFIRE, and the introduction explains the concept:

When a war ends provisionally, the agreement is called a ceasefire. But when peace ends, there is only war. Ultimately, though: When was there ever really peace? War and peace are co-dependent. What might be best would be “Peacefire.”

I was most struck by Yuko Otomo’s connection of the explosions of war with fireworks, and with the Japanese word for fireworks—hanabi, literally flowerfire. Maintenant 17: Peacefire is full of such connections, of ways to think creatively about humanity’s penchant for destruction, and what it might take to bring about peace.

Thank you to Three Rooms Press and to Edelweiss for the DRC.