Caucasus Journal of Milton Studies

Editor’s Note

It does not seem possible that summer is gone, and fall is upon us, but welcome to the September issue of our Journal.

It is with great pleasure that we introduce two new voices in our Poetry section. Elnaz Shahnavazi is from southern Iran, a student of English Literature who writes compelling narrative poetry in which she often uses nature to represent the human experience. Eliso Khatridze is from Georgia, and in addition to being a poet, she has also written and directed an original play that was presented by the Gori Drama Club and Actor’s Studio at their Spring Festival in April 2024.

Johanna Ataman, from Nigeria, who had been our youngest contributor, has sent us an evocative poem reflecting on racial disparities. We welcome her return to our pages.

We have a poetic translation from Georgian to English by Eter Churadze. Titsian Tabidze, a cousin of the more famous Galaktion Tabidze, was a victim of Soviet repression. In A Poem – Earthfall he foretells his tragic death. 

Tedo Sharadenidze has not only given us another short story, Words Never Spoken, but also a scholarly article exploring the value of using Milton’s Samson Agonistes as a tool to teach grammar to students of English as a Foreign Language.

George Shaduri, our friend at the International Black Sea University, offers us reflections on Jonathan Swift’s A Tale of a Tub.

Professor Edward Raupp has given us several contributions to this issue. He has written an article investigating the similarities between the biblical character of Samson and Milton’s personal experiences during the tumultuous Restoration period. In addition, we continue the presentation of Books VIII and IX of Ares: A Poem. He has also written a book review of an interesting study of the similarities between the Kartvelian and Sumerian languages, authored by Professor Doctor Anna Meskhi, formerly a Professor at Gori State University. Finally, we have a new section of the Journal, An Opinion Piece: An Essay on Navigating Change in the Post-Soviet Educational System.

As always, we thank each of our contributors and hope that their efforts presented here will encourage others to write in English for publication. That is our goal with each issue of this Journal.

Warm regards,
Danna Raupp
Editor-in-Chief