Lost in the Cosmos
June 26, 2009
Dealing with language, selflessness, and a world rearranged.
Casey Downing
Casey Downing grew up in Colorado, received his BA in English from Colorado State University and has not stayed put since. He has lived and worked in California, Wyoming, Ireland, Argentina, New York and India. Casey spent the past two years in New York working as an NGO consultant on economic, social and human rights issues at the United Nations. He currently lives in southern India, working for a human rights organization that fights human trafficking and modern-day slavery. Still, he thinks poetry is probably more important than lawmaking.
Irena’s Vow
March 6, 2009
All of this makes works of art like Irena’s Vow even more important, and its staging at a place like the United Nations so crucial. Gone from that theater were the warring ideologies, political posturing, and the legislative mire of international policy. Here was a piece of art, presented simply, with little pomp or show, telling us that a single person, devoted to good and human dignity, can change the way of things. The delegates who might have been most opposed to some of the messages of the play sniffled alongside their political rivals.