WELCOME
TO
OUR POETRY ARCHIVE
FROM THE EDITOR
The social impacts of pandemics can be severe, include travel is
strictly limited, and schools are closed, markets and sporting are closed. All
these are the everyday reality in this pandemic with true potential for high
morbidity and mortality. Population mobility is also a key factor. Movement is
difficult and the travel including visiting families, carrying goods to markets
are restricted by military check points. The closure of airports and
cancellation of flights affecting people’s travel, livelihood, and family life.
With the rapid development in worldwide aviation over the last two decades, the
risk of global pandemics has escalated with increased passenger traffic.
Closing the airports harms the economy of the affected regions. School closure
is often considered the first non-pharmaceutical intervention for implementation
in a pandemic, as students are effective in spreading the virus. Timely school
closure and cancellation of public gatherings is significantly associated with
reduced mortality related to influenza epidemics. With the disruption of food
supply in the cities, people cannot find necessary food and living things
because market and shops remain closed. This also can cause a long-lasting
change in people’s diet. Pandemics are no longer simply the domain of public
health and clinical medicine, but are a social issue, a development issue, and
a global security issue. Pandemics cause devastation to human lives and
livelihoods much as do wars, financial crises. Pandemic prevention and
response, therefore, should be treated as an essential tenet of both national
and global security – not just as a matter of health.
Pandemic influenza represents a serious threat not only to the
population of the world, but also to its economy. The impact of economic loss
can result in instability of the economy. The impact is through direct costs,
long term burden, and indirect costs. The direct costs of dealing with the
disease outbreak can be very high. The long-term burden is also severe. One of
the main burdens is from the loss of earnings of those who have died. Indirect
costs are also very heavy. They include everything that contributes to a
decline in GDP. Some sectors of economy may be more heavily affected than
others. Thus, pandemics have both immediate and long-term effects that can
damage the economic life of a nation for many years to come.
So, the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has created a
global health crisis that has had a deep impact on the way we perceive our
world and our everyday lives. Not only the rate of contagion and patterns of
transmission threatens our sense of agency, but the safety measures put in
place to contain the spread of the virus also require social distancing by
refraining from doing what is inherently human, which is to find solace in the
company of others. Within this context of physical threat, social and physical
distancing, as well as public alarm, what has been (and can be) the role of the
different mass media channels in our lives on individual, social and societal
levels?
Mass media have long been recognized as powerful forces shaping how we
experience the world and ourselves. This recognition is accompanied by a
growing volume of research, that closely follows the footsteps of technological
transformations. Are media still able to convey a sense of unity reaching large
audiences, or are messages lost in the noisy crowd of mass self-communication?
Do social media provide solace or grounds for misinformation, (de)humanization,
and discrimination? How can different media industries and channels for mass
communication promote adaptive responses to foster positive health attitudes
and adherence to preventive measures? How media impact the dynamics in the
private domain (e.g. strengthen family bonds versus domestic conflict and
violence)? All these are to be watched closely now and throughout the upcoming
times.
We think mass media should play a key roll to keep us united in the name
of humanity and solidarity. We also think web journals as well as literary
activities around the world can also play a definitive roll to guard us from
phycological as well as mental problems in this horrific time. It can also help
us to communicate with our inner souls and can keep us engaged with creativity
to harness our individual potentialities. Even during this locked down period
this will help us a lot to shift our imbedded fear of deaths and the
overwhelming anxieties of upcoming economics hurdles into some more prosperous
and creative activities.
So, with this vision we at OPA has prepared yet another monthly edition
of Our Poetry Archive. May 2020. We are really excited to introduce poet Hela
Tekali of Tunisia as the Poet of The Month. Dr. Aprilia Zank the distinguished
member of our editorial team has taken an exclusive interview of the poet.
Personally, I remain obliged to both of them for this present edition. We hope
our readers will enjoy this edition even more in this locked down period.
Like the previous years, this year also we’ll publish the yearly OPA
Anthology Of Poetry 2020. This year we have selected the topic as “Striving for
SURVIVAL”. We are glad that more than hundred poets around the world have
already submitted their poems written on this special topic. Any poet can also
participate in this upcoming Anthology with at least 3 poems written in
English, only on this topic. To submit poems, one has to send also the recent
profile picture and a short BIO written only in 3rd person narrative. The
submission address for this Anthology is opa.anthology@gmail.com
Poems submitted in .pdf files will not be accepted. The last date of
submission is 30th May’ 2020.
From The
Editorial Desk
OPA
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WORLDWIDE WRITERS’ WEB
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wonderful explanation about pandemic situation around the globe. loved this. wish you more success dear editor.
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