A Guardian article is filled with instances of literature alleviating the suffering of patients suffering from mental illness.
Monthly Archives: October 2021
Literature, the Best Medicine
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged bibliotherapy, Ceremony, D. H. Lawrence, George Herbert, Leslie Marmon Silko Comments closed
Pushing Back Against Lit’s Detractors
I share the thesis for the book I am writing.
Posted in Uncategorized Comments closed
Literature for Transforming Lives
A new book on Literature as Transformation conducts eye-opening interviews with readers whose lives literature has changed.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged bibliotherapy, D. H. Lawrence, Lady Chatterley's Lover Comments closed
Blessing the Boats at St. Mary’s
Monday Yesterday I mentioned Lucille Clifton’s poem “blessing the boats (at st. mary’s).” As I explain below, it was written while Lucille was a colleague at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. I find it a miraculous poem: may the tidethat is entering even nowthe lip of our understandingcarry you outbeyond the face of fearmay you […]
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The Lesson of the Falling Leaves
Clifton has written simple but powerful poems about letting go, including this autumnal poem.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "lesson of the falling leaves", Autumn, letting go, Lucille Clifton Comments closed
Bertie Wooster Bungles the Catch
P.G. Wodehouse wrote poetry as well as the Wooster and Jeeves series.This cricket poem describes how Bertie would play.
Tough Lives Need Poetry’s Toughness
A new book on the psychology of life-changing lit has alerted me to some great passages.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Love (3)", bibliotherapy, George Herbert, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Hans-Georg Gadamer, Jan Mukarovsky, Jeanette Winterson, T. S. Eliot Comments closed
Dryden on Charismatic Demagogues
In Dryden’s Absalom, we see a politician who has Donald Trump’s ability to sway a crowd.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Absalom and Architophel, coup attempt, Donald Trump, GOP, January 6 insurrection, John Dryden, Steve Bannon Comments closed
