Collaborators Near & Far
The Our Poems Circle was not, however, a “communist front,” nor did it rigidly adhere to the Eastern bloc directives. Culture circles such as this one are by definition not rigid or hierarchical groups or political parties, but rather associations that encourage knowledge construction, interpretation, and social engagement through cultural production, such as poetry composition. Our Poems also flourished in the complexity of its Cold War moment, which witnessed not only the terrifying nuclear arms race but also decolonization, coalitions among disparate groups who had a common goal, and struggles to realize human rights and social justice on the part of people who sought a third way separate from the increasingly rigid dogma and often dubious and unjust and violent practices of East and West blocs.