A poem for April Fools’ Day
Monthly Archives: March 2022
Authors as Nationalist Symbols
Perhaps Russia has a sentimental attachment to Ukraine because many of its authors have loved its cities, especially Odessa.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Isaac Babel, Taras Shevchenko, Ukraine invasion, Ukrainian authors Comments closed
Addressing a Long and Sad History
The long overdue anti-lynching bill signed into law by Biden yesterday brings to mind powerful lynching poems, including this one by Hughes.
Lucille Clifton on Turning Red
Pixar’s “Turning Red” brings to mind a series of Lucille Clifton poems where she too looks at the red dimensions of womanhood–and how to handle them.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "poem in praise of menstruation", "to my last period", "the way it was", adolescence, Lucille Clifton, Turning Red Comments closed
The Very Model of a Modern Russian General
Tweeters have been busy finding literary allusions to capture the incompetence of Russia’s armed forces in Ukraine.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Gilbert and Sullivan, Importance of Being Earnest, Leo Tolstoy, Oscar Wilde, Pirates of Penzance, Ukraine invasion, War and Peace, William S. Gilbert Comments closed
A Hughes Poem in a SCOTUS Hearing
By citing Hughes’s “Let America Be America Again,” Sen. Booker honored the occasion of the first African American woman being nominated for the Supreme Court.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Let America Be America Again", "Mother to Son", Cory Booker, Langston Hughes, Letanji Brown Jackson, SCOTUS nomination Comments closed
Could “Dover Beach” Prevent a Rape?
McEwan’s novel “Saturday” shows Arnold’s “Dover Beach” forestalling a rape.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Ian McEwan, Saturday, Ukraine invasion, Vladimir Putin Comments closed
No Crystal Stair for Judge Jackson
The prospect of a Black woman being nominated to the highest court in the land bring to mind Langston Hughes’s “Mother to Son.” In other words, it’s been a long climb.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Mother to Son", Ketanji Brown Jackson, Langston Hughes, Supreme Court, Supreme Court hearings Comments closed
