Brief encounters: “The Body-Snatcher” by Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1884 chiller “The Body-Snatcher” is a tale of supernatural horror with moral overtones.
Anatomy of melancholy: Kevin Barry’s Night Boat to Tangier
When Kevin Barry appeared at the Toronto International Festival of Authors in 2013 (back when it was still known as IFOA), he outlined his idea of the traditions that exist within Irish literature. Basically, Barry argued, there are two opposite
Harold Bloom, proponent of the literary sublime, dies at age 89
Harold Bloom antagonized academics and cultural theorists, but remained a staunch advocate of transcendence through literature.
On regarding the lives of others: Benjamin Moser’s biography of Susan Sontag
Benjamin Moser’s biography of Susan Sontag presents its subject as a mass of contradictions.
Watch Your Head addresses climate crisis through poetry, art
Poet and editor Kathryn Mockler’s latest project is an online call to arms around the ongoing climate emergency.
Finding the words: Sister Language by Christina Baillie and Martha Baillie
Christina Baillie and Martha Baillie have created a unique dual text that examines the linguistic manifestations of schizophrenia.
Copy of D.H. Lawrence novel from landmark obscenity trial remains in U.K.
A copy of D.H. Lawrence’s notorious novel, marked up by a British judge’s wife, will remain in the U.K. following a successful crowdfunding campaign.
Brief encounters: “A Member of the Family” by Muriel Spark
Muriel Spark’s pitiless treatment of her characters is on full display in the merciless irony of “A Member of the Family.”
George Elliott Clarke on the insidious history of Blackface in North America
Former Parliamentary Poet Laureate George Elliott Clarke provides an incisive critique of pernicious historical acts of racial burlesque.
Long and short: Ducks, Newburyport and the art of the aphorism
In addition to being a sprawling and complex work of fiction, Lucy Ellmann’s Ducks, Newburyport offers a master class in the art of the aphorism.