Monthly Archives: November 2021

When a Novel SHOULD Disturb

By Robin Bates | Published: November 30, 2021

An author recounts how he encountered de factor censorship when trying to publish a novel on Congolese child soldiers.

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Poetry Soothes Our Restless Feelings

By Robin Bates | Published: November 29, 2021

Longfellow’s “Day Is Done” recommends simple poetry for calming restless thoughts.

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Yes, Virginia, Books ARE Dangerous

By Robin Bates | Published: November 28, 2021

In a brilliant satiric essay, Petri agrees with reactionary school boards that books are dangerous.

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Create Holy Sparks for All Humankind

By Robin Bates | Published: November 27, 2021

Two Hanukkah poems, both of which connect the Festival of Lights with light imagery in the creation story.

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Robert Bly, R.I.P.

By Robin Bates | Published: November 25, 2021

A calm Robert Bly poem about dying is a good way to commemorate the Minnesota poet, who died this past week.

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Lift We Up Our Songs of Praise

By Robin Bates | Published: November 24, 2021

Dunbar has a luminescent Thanksgiving poem, which is all the more impressive given the racism he faced as a Black man.

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Lorde on Our Fury over Racial Killings

By Robin Bates | Published: November 23, 2021

Lorde has a poem examining her anger at Whites killing innocent Blacks. It’s a good caution as the Arbery trial nears its end.

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The Arbery Killers, Today’s Slave Catchers

By Robin Bates | Published: November 22, 2021

The men who chased and killed Ahmaud Arbery are like the slave catchers in “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.”

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What Brecht Would Say about Rittenhouse

By Robin Bates | Published: November 21, 2021

Monday Kyle Rittenhouse having been found innocent, on grounds of self-defense, after shooting three people, I am repurposing a past post on Bertolt Brecht’s The Exception and the Rule. While the play deals with class rather than racial differences, it still explains why a young White Man avoids consequences in ways a Black man never […]

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