I was born in Barquisimeto, known as the musical capital of Venezuela. As a child I discovered that my voice was my best instrument. I was brought up on my country’s folklore music. Then other songs entered my life, full […]
{Montreal Native Canadian artist and Mohawk activist, Ellen Gabriel, through her paintings and drawings, takes part in deconstructing the negative stereotypes that remain towards the first inhabitants of our land.} * * * * * * * * ”Art has […]
By Eduardo Galeano. Writer, Uruguay Translation. coorditrad@attac.org volunteer translators (*) Times of fear. The world is living in a state of terror, terror in disguise: some say it comes from Saddam Hussein, now tired of being enemy number one, or […]
Bhopal , 1984 Night shift: He separates smells with ease Dust of pesticide enfolds him like ivories Entangled in Carbide’s empire my son, the scientist, labors on Outside on famished footpath groundnut fire keeps me warm, I, the night watchman, […]
URGENCE Lorraine Simms has been painting professionally since 1991. Her work is represented in many private and public collections, including the Canada Council Art Bank and the Musée du Québec. She has taught painting and drawing at Concordia University and […]
I lose people. They die in ways that are incomprehensible to me. Making their entry in an almost gentle and unsolicited way, they exit brutally, inappropriately, usually suddenly. They mark my existence and are the worlds and songs and reflections […]
[Rawi Hage is a Montreal writer. Born in Lebanon, he immigrated to Canada in 1992. His work has appeared in Mizna, a literary journal in Minneapolis, and Al-Jadid, a magazine in Los Angeles]. A call rang out over the whole […]
[Mark Kingwell is the author of several book including In Pursuit of Happiness. His essays have appeared in Harper’s, Utne Reader, the New York Times Magazine, the New York Observer, the National Post, and the Globe and Mail. The following […]
[Michel Chossudovsky is Professor of Economics at University of Ottawa] In Yugoslavia, the IMF has become the steadfast financial bureaucracy of the western military alliance, working hand in glove with NATO and the US State Department. The International Monetary Fund […]
[NOAM CHOMSKY is one of America’s most prominent political dissidents. A renowned professor of linguistics at MIT, he has authored over 30 political books dissecting such issues as U.S. interventionism in the developing world, the political economy of human rights […]
[The editorial below confines itself to the task of establishing a set of principles that will determine, in advance of individual policy, an universally just immigration policy template.] HOW TO DE-POLITICIZE IMMIGRATION “Handle with extreme care” might be the warning […]
History never confesses. “Guyana cannot be allowed to slip into a state of ethnic division or social polarization. Every leader, organization and citizen has a duty to prevent a widening of the gulf.” I recently read an account of the […]
It’s Day Forty-seven, the bombings continue and “tragic mistakes” and “regretful errors” too and ruined life hourly trickles out of Kosovo and defiant Belgrade amid the rubble keeps on saying No and “we are sorry but we’ll go on pounding” […]
I think I went looking for Julie because I was tired and hungry. It was miserable Wednesday night — dark, rainy, cold, and I had my hood pulled up, even though it dripped water down my neck. The gang had […]
Tempus Fugit Yes. It was true. There was no doubt about it. The telltale signs on the grass and leaves and asphalt were visible from her third-floor balcony. She took a big gulp of air and her nostrils confirmed what […]
Serai Sands A decade slips by A millennium approaches And we return To search for new Serais For blinded and stunned travellers… Collectors of treasure boxes… Each grain taken away, one by one Till there is just one left In […]
INVISIBLE BOMBAYS We left somewhere a life we never found, Customs and gods that are not born again… –Dereck Walcott. You in your blue lattice houses Should not listen to streamers of my steps Maps of my arrivals and […]
Icons of a well-weathered life I have taken to brushing my cheek Against the silky smoothness My babies! Of your first Christmas snapshots I have taken to running my fingers Through your brushed and shining hair My first-born! Staring back […]
CUTTING THROUGH THE CONSTITUTIONAL SMOKESCREEN Serai: Madame Parent, since you have seen so much and participated in so much that has now become Quebec’s past, could you describe your aspirations as a Quebecer from a broad, historical perspective? Parent: I’m […]
To: Ken Chubb CBC Television Re: Television Drama Series Writing Workshop for Professional writers with experience in another medium, Mr. Chubb, Thanks for the invitation to apply for a position in the upcoming T.V. writing workshop. But after reading the […]
As I sit to contemplate a count-down to war (D-38) I can’t help but be fragmented. Not in my persuasions but in my analysis. More than ever this is a media war. A long build up. National interest. Daily coverage. […]
Discovering a New Word After being punched up, bruised and bloodied, South Shore black businessman Francis Ojo was thrown into a police cruiser and made to repeat three times: “I am a nigger.” The Station 33 cops who repeatedly beat […]
Dr. Rita Shakuntala Nowry, a family physician in obstetrics has been in Montreal since 1967. One of the pioneer women doctors from a South Asian country, she is a well known figure in the community. She has been on the […]
As Serai started out originally in hard copy, below we have collected a few of the many covers and cartoons from our past issues. Most of these covers were drawn/designed by Vanessa Chio or Mehdi Naimi and the cartoons were […]
This e-zine’s been around for as long as there have been e-zine’s on the web…or so it seems. Since 1995, as an e-zine and since 1986 as a hardcopy magazine. Twenty years, non-stop. Check out what happened in ‘86… of […]
[MICHAEL MOORE, along with free-thinkers like Noam Chomsky, is the conscience of America. He directed the film Roger and Me, and hosts the weekly show THE AWFUL TRUTH on Bravo TV. -ed.] Progress is our mistakes understood. Merleau-Ponty Dear friends, […]
Night crawls in and Banksy and his urban warriors sweep through town…or maybe a distant village. They appear in Los Angeles, in Disneyland, in the Museum of Modern Art, in a display of ancient Chinese Art and on the ugly […]
