Delivering Views #29, 2022

Trio by Japan Alexandra Harrison Blackman, Caroline Sager

The rule of three is a writing principle that posits the trio as the best possible combination for telling a story. From a musical standpoint, this formal technique simultaneously combines brevity and rhythm, creating a pattern out of the smallest possible unit: the word. Think of slogans and advertising campaigns like, "reduce, reuse, recycle" or, "liberté, égalité, fraternité" the motto of the French republic. Or, for a more lyrical example, consider Layli Long Soldier's "grassesgrassesgrasses" in her stunning debut poetry collection, WHEREAS.

We tend to think of stories having (usually) three main parts: a beginning, middle, and end. In photography and visual art, this principle is called the "rule of thirds," a compositional technique that strives to create tension, energy, and greater visual interest (heh, another example of three) for the viewer. To be sure, there are as many ways to tell a story and look deeply at a thing as there are stories and things and languages and people. In a country as complex and rich as Cyprus, we encounter this multiplicity on a daily basis, sometimes through division and barrier, and other times through channels of connection, solidarity, and shared history.

In this issue of Delivering Views, we (perhaps inadvertently) lean into the rule of three, offering readers a look at Cyprus through the trio of poetry, short fiction, and photography—all created over the course of the 2021-2022 year by three US-based Fulbright fellows. In Caroline Sager's singular 35mm shots, landscape takes center stage with images that are devoid of human subjects and yet full of human gestures. In Harrison Blackman's short story, "Silent G," an American widower returns to Cyprus to visit his mother-in-law's hometown-the ghost city of Varosha. In janan alexandra's poems, find yourself on a lyric journey that begins in the air and stretches all the way to the golden edge of the Karpaz Peninsula.

We are honored to publish our work with the terrific team at Phaneromenis70 and share it with the island that has been our home the past year.