Nika Cavat

Roman-born Nika Cavat’s essays, film and literature reviews, poetry, and short fiction have appeared in print and numerous online publications, including "Seawall: Literary Journal", "3.1 Venice Magazine", and "The Independent School Magazine." The daughter of American artists who lived and worked in Rome, Italy, Cavat has also traveled extensively through Uganda, Eastern Europe, Russia, the Philippines, and Central America. As a veteran teacher, she founded the creative writing program at Crossroads School for Arts & Sciences in Santa Monica, CA, where she continues to teach English. She was a writing teacher in Central Juvenile Hall in East Los Angeles and at Safe Place For Youth, a drop-in center for unhoused youth in Venice Beach. She received her B.A. in Literature at S.U.N.Y Purchase, New York and M.F.A. in Film at Columbia University. Cavat resides in Venice Beach, CA.

“12 Years Old,” “Can’t Google This,” and “To Hell With Black Friday”

She had a baby
only two weeks ago –
2 pounds, 6 sticks of butter, a sack of flour
a bowl of apples, a bag of caramel sugar
2 pounds of a girl.

She weeps into the bowl of her hands,
her breasts full, her womb a spent sack
her baby, no bigger than a pup…

“An Imaginary Letter to My Friend, Irina, in Moscow” and “Can’t Google This”

I drank Merlot last night from the wine glass you gave me
and thought about how we’d met when our children were
chubby angels, marriage still appeared the answer and the
Twin Towers still raised up above Manhattan like trusted sentinels.

Vodka and Ice

I am a Russian writer, a descendant of the great Tolstoy. I became well-known, both to the KGB and my devoted readership for subversive works, as the Soviet news wrote. My wife, Irena, would tell you I was best known in the bars and after-hours clubs, but she was a bitter woman, with faith in a marriage I saw more as a domestic necessity.
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