Monthly Archives: September 2021

Remembering 9-11 in Poetry

By Robin Bates | Published: September 9, 2021

On September 11, 2001 and for six days after, Lucille Clifton wrote a series of poems reflecting on the meaning of the attack.

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Eliot Explains Conspiracy Theories

By Robin Bates | Published: September 8, 2021

In “Middlemarch,” Eliot gives a succinct explanation as to why people are drawn to conspiracy theories.

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Hurricane Ida and Murakami’s 1Q84

By Robin Bates | Published: September 7, 2021

Comparing Hurricane Id’s damage with a supernatural rainstorm in Murakami’s “1Q84” leads to interesting climate observations.

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Atwood & Austen on Abortion in Texas

By Robin Bates | Published: September 6, 2021

Texas’s new abortion law, which incentives citizens to snitch on their neighbors, brings to mind “Handmaid’s Tale,” “1984,” and “Northanger Abbey.”

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A Day of Rest for the Working Class

By Robin Bates | Published: September 5, 2021

Labor Day In observance of Labor Day, here’s a poem by that bounciest of poets, Robert Service. Although it’s a bit of a caricature of the working man, I like the way he talks of rest. Labor Day, after all, celebrates the workers by giving them a special day off. And they don’t even have […]

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Flow As You Feel the Surge in Your Body

By Robin Bates | Published: September 4, 2021

In the “Unnamable River,” Arthur Sze searches for mystery within the tangible and the sensual.

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Condemned to Read Dickens, Austen

By Robin Bates | Published: September 2, 2021

A British judge has ordered a white supremacist to read Dickens and Austen. Why these authors.

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Crane’s Reenactment of War’s Horrors

By Robin Bates | Published: September 1, 2021

Leaders should “Red Badge of Courage” before sending their troops into battle.

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