The problem with trying to plan issues around a central theme is that we always seem to find ourselves stretching that theme as far as it will possibly go until it almost breaks into something that is completely unrecognizable. Case in point: We had originally planned this entire issue around the idea of violence, or rather the overwhelming force with which it manifests itself in our world. But as the stories started to come together we became less interested in the act of violence itself and more intrigued by the way we confront and cope with conflict through action, words or art.

Conflict is not necessarily violent, and violence is not always born from conflict. The stories found in this issue of Last Exit form a bridge across these two concepts. We can cross over from the raw tragedy of tribal strife in Africa to the slow, intellectual battle of chess. We don’t pretend that it’s all the same thing, but each one brings us closer to that recognizable phrase of dubious origin that may or may not be a Chinese curse: May you live in interesting times.

Titus Kuria sends us a dispatch from his native Nairobi, the second largest slum in Kenya. “Yearning For Normalcy” is a first-person account of the disputed election that led to civil unrest and the displacement of thousands.

Meanwhile, Megan White is an American living and working in Kenya and filed her own report in the wake of the post-election violence. In “‘Killing Hope Can Make People Go Crazy’” she mourns for the Kenya she has known and extols the resilient spirit of its people.

In “From Fish To Fischer?” Keach Hagey visits with New York’s own Kassa Korley, a 14-year-old chess prodigy. With his long dreadlocks, triple citizenship, and loquacious manner, Korley is a new breed of champion playing in the famed Manhattan Chess Club where the late Bobby Fischer shot to fame.

In “Art History Is A Blood Sport” Helen Hsu looks into a spat over the Venice Biennale that unfolded in the pages of Artforum. She examines the tense relationship the art world has with its audience and finds that the legacy of the turbulent 1960s still looms large.

Journalist and author Stephen Kinzer cemented his status as one of the world’s best foreign correspondents with his coverage of the war and upheaval in Central America for the New York Times during the 1980s. In our latest installment of “Five Questions” he speaks to us about the assassination of Pakistan’s Benazir Bhutto, America’s global shortsightedness and his latest book, Overthrow.

“This is the story of three jackings, numerous near death experiences and the good fun had by everyone in Southeast Asia but me.” So begins “New Jack City,” Nicole Whelan’s epic, hilarious tale of a trip to Vietnam.

Tony Gerber and Jess Moss are filmmakers from New York City whose documentary Full Battle Rattle explores a “virtual Iraq” in the California desert where troops train before being deployed to war. In “Not In Play” they speak to Keach Hagey in advance of the film’s debut.

Meet our contributors here.

- Keach Hagey and Paul Menchaca, Editors