ANN ARBOR—Questions of translation, biculturalism and national identity loom large in the spring 1996 issue of Michigan Quarterly Review (MQR).

University of Michigan Prof. Barbara Ryan‘s review of books by Marshall Sahlins and Simon Schama delves into “topics dear to the academy—the question of authority in a field, of evidence, of methodology, of audience for a scholarly project,” says MQR editor Laurence Goldstein.

In addition, the U-M’s Rei Terada, assistant professor of English, and graduate student Caroline Kim present their poetry.

Published by the U-M, MQR contains essays, poetry, fiction, memoirs, reviews and graphics by writers and scholars nationwide.

Also featured in this issue are a translation of 19th century French novelist Honore de Balzac’s essay on coffee, David Hamilton’s personal account of his visit to Gabon, a memoir by author Sylvia Watanabe on the meaning of “home,” the poetry of Gerard Malanga and Jeanne E. Clark, and a review of stories of German writer Marie Luise Kaschnitz by Barbara Zeisl Schoenberg.

Others whose works appear in MQR include Wayne Booth, Kevin Boyle, Seth Grossman, Alyce Miller, Valerie Miner, John R. Reed, Ilan Stavans and Lisa M. Steinman.

The spring 1996 edition of MQR is currently available in local bookstores and in the MQR office in Room 3032, Rackham Building. For more information, call (313) 764-9265.