Monthly Archives: September 2021

Holding on When We Need to Let Go

By Robin Bates | Published: September 30, 2021

Deborah Pope’s “Getting Through” is for those who can’t get over the loss of a loved one.

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The Second Coming of Trumpism?

By Robin Bates | Published: September 29, 2021

Yeats’s “Second Coming” pretty much describes the current GOP, with Trump auditioning to be the rough beast.

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Chekhov’s Gun and American Elections

By Robin Bates | Published: September 28, 2021

Are stories of rightwing militias carrying AK-47s also carrying Chekhov’s gun? What happens in the next act?

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Only What Is Human Can Be Foreign

By Robin Bates | Published: September 27, 2021

Szymborska’s beautiful poem “Psalm” provides the perspective we all need on immigrants at the border.

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In Old Age, the Clarity of Early Morning

By Robin Bates | Published: September 26, 2021

Milosz’s “Late Ripeness” radiates peace as it describes approaching 90.

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Stately Pines as Cathedral Towers

By Robin Bates | Published: September 25, 2021

For Longfellow, the stateliest church and the best place to worship is in a pine forest.

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Debating Literature’s Impact

By Robin Bates | Published: September 23, 2021

I share the revised table of contents of the book I’m working on.

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Jane Austen Will Cure What Ails You

By Robin Bates | Published: September 22, 2021

Jane Austen therapy has been prescribed for war vets, London civilians under attack, and people hiding out from Covid.

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The Classics as Teen Survival Guides

By Robin Bates | Published: September 21, 2021

Vietnamese immigrant Phuc Tran uses various classics to survive American adolescence.

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