Monthly Archives: April 2022

In Ukraine, a Battle between 2 Poets

By Robin Bates | Published: April 19, 2022

The war in Ukraine can partly be explained as a war between two poets, Pushkin and Shevchenko.

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Kesey, Spokesman for Reactionary Men

By Robin Bates | Published: April 18, 2022

“One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest” anticipates rightwing attacks on women and people of color.

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The Fascist Right Goes for Sendak

By Robin Bates | Published: April 17, 2022

The authoritarian Christian right has now begun going after public libraries, one of which recently had Sendak’s “In the Night Kitchen” pulled.

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Out of Black Ponds, Water Lillies

By Robin Bates | Published: April 16, 2022

“Morning Poem” works as an Easter poem because every morning, as Oliver sees it, is a mini-resurrection.

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Passover Originated in Poetic Vision

By Robin Bates | Published: April 14, 2022

In this Passover poem, Harvey Shapiro traces the movement from direct encounter with God to the Passover story.

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Jane Austen, Fountain of Youth

By Robin Bates | Published: April 14, 2022

89-year-old Ruth Wilson finds that rereading Jane Austen keeps her feeling young.

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Who Has the Real Problem with Sex?

By Robin Bates | Published: April 12, 2022

Those who complain most about sexual perversion are usually the people who are most implicated in it. Take Iago, for instance.

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Dancing in the Face of Darkness

By Robin Bates | Published: April 11, 2022

In “Evening Sun,” poet Kenyon remembers a life-affirming moment as a child that would bolster her as an adult.

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Iago Resentment Is Destroying America

By Robin Bates | Published: April 10, 2022

The “ressentiment” that drives Iago to destroy Othello is present in our own society and equally destructive.

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