I am delighted to welcome you to Issue 9 of The International Literary Quarterly.

First of all, the review’s Board of Editors would like to take this opportunity to introduce the following distinguished figures from the worlds of literature and the arts, all of whom have kindly agreed to act as Consulting Editors of Interlitq with effect from this issue: Frank Ankersmit, Reza Aslan, Michael Barry, Jean Boase-Beier, Mario Biagioli, Stanley Cavell, Hollis Clayson, Sarah Churchwell, Kristina Cordero, Drucilla Cornell, André Dombrowski, Klaus Ebner, Orlando Figes, Nancy Fraser, Maureen Freely, Michael Fried, Lydia Goehr, Lawrence Grossberg, Elizabeth Grosz, Valerie Henitiuk, Martin Kern, Joseph Koerner, Mabel Lee, Linda Leith, Edie Meidav, Jack Miles, Laura Mulvey, Azar Nafisi, Sari Nusseibeh, Clare Pettitt, Robert Pinsky, François Rigolot, Carla Sassi, Hadaa Sendoo, Miranda Seymour, Mimi Sheller, Elaine Showalter, Penelope Shuttle, Julian Stallabrass, Marjorie Trusted, Lidia Vianu, Victor Vitanza and David Wellbery.

In terms of contributions to Issue 9, I hope that you will enjoy the evocative poetry of Ilya Bernstein, Joanne Rocky Delaplaine, Geoffrey Hartman, John Haynes, David Kinloch, Ruth Padel, Chris Serio and David Trinidad; the arresting prose of Françoise Brodsky, Jorge Edwards, Tsvetanka Elenkova, Rebecca Jany and Peter Robertson; the trenchant criticism of Maria Filippakopoulou; and Lidia Vianu’s informative interview with Stephen Wilson.

Readers will also note the inclusion in this issue of “Volta: A Multilingual Anthology”, constituting “ a celebration of multilinguism and diversity”, showcasing the poem Volta by Richard Berengarten, dedicated to the memory of the Greek poet, George Seferis, and translated into seventy-four different languages by the following authors: Nausheen Ahmad, Toheed Ahmad, Amanda Aizpuriete, Baba Akote, Agnar Artúvertin, Mammed Aslan, Razif Bahari, Ismail Bala, Mary Blum Devor, Theo Breuer, Kevin Cadwallander, Helena Cardoso, Firat Cewerî, Lila Cona, Robert Davreu, Christine De Luca, Tumusiime Katwende Deo, Paul Scott Derrick, Vasil Filipov, Bashabi Fraser, Ulrich Gabriel, Manana Gelashvili, George Gömöri, Maria Grech Ganado, Hassan Hilmi, Rhisiart Hincks, Fahmida Hussain, Juan Kruz Igerabide Sarasola, Jouni Inkala, Ofonime Inyang, Ana Jelnikar, Miroslav Jindra, Tomoko Kanda, Maarja Kangro, Jana Kantorová-Báliková, Ilias Layios, Jan Lauwereyns, Fernando Lavandeira, Parvin Loloi, Akhmad hoji Khorazmiy, Tomislav Kuzmanović, Aonghas MacNeacail, Vasyl Makhno, Olga Markelova, Mawatle J. Mojalefa, Paola Musa, Bob Natifu, Annakuly Nurmammedov, Sunday Enessi Ododo, Obododimma Oha, Wilson Orhiunu, Hom Paribag, Toni Piccini, Henning Pieterse, Sara Poisson, Begonya Pozo, Vera V. Radojević, Loreto Riveiro Álvarez, James Robertson, Gabriel Rosenstock, Eurig Salisbury, Jostein Sæbøe, Hadaa Sendoo, Resul Shabani, Jesper Svenbro, Lars-Håkan Svensson, Chee-Lay Tan, Petar Tchouhov, Miguel Teruel, Kola Tubosun, Răzvan Voncu, Elżbieta Wójcik-Leese, Soltobay Zaripbekov and Ariel Zinder.

And, last but not least, all of these texts are thrown into splendid relief by the highly atmospheric artwork of Jean Macalpine, Guest Artist for this issue of Interlitq.

I very much hope that you will enjoy Issue 9 of The International Literary Quarterly, and that you will return to visit us in February 2010.