Monthly Archives: January 2023

Out of Pain We Feed This Feverish Plot

By Robin Bates | Published: January 21, 2023

Oliver captures Christian fish imagery in “The Fish.”

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Comments closed

Books Banned Because They’re Powerful

By Robin Bates | Published: January 19, 2023

Book banning is on the rise in the U.S., including recently in Virginia. Brecht’s “Burning of the Books” is always powerful.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Comments closed

Libby Changes the Way We Read

By Robin Bates | Published: January 18, 2023

Listening to Libby books on my cellphone has opened up a new dimension of engaging with novels.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments closed

Roth and the Hamline Mess

By Robin Bates | Published: January 17, 2023

Roth’s “Human Stain” has lessons for Hamline’s recent mess-up over an art teacher. It has also given me a new perspective on my two sons.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Comments closed

School Panics about Dr. Seuss Discussion

By Robin Bates | Published: January 16, 2023

A school administrator objected when a class discussion of Dr. Seuss’s “Sneetches” veered into questions of race.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Comments closed

Words That Burn the Center of the Sun

By Robin Bates | Published: January 15, 2023

In her poem about Martin Luther King, Gwendolyn Brooks opposes the volcanic fire of hate against the sun’s fire of transcendent justice.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Comments closed

Holy Ghost: Warm Breast and Bright Wings

By Robin Bates | Published: January 14, 2023

Hopkins’s “God’s Grandeur” captures the magnificent but intimate moment when the Holy Spirit enters us.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Comments closed

Trumpist Stefanik, Shakespeare Lover?!

By Robin Bates | Published: January 12, 2023

Trump fanatic Elise Stefanik loved Shakespeare in college. So what exactly did she take away from the plays?

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Comments closed

Charles Simic, R.I.P.

By Robin Bates | Published: January 11, 2023

Charles Simic died Monday. Like much of his poetry, “Poem without a Title” is simple but powerful.

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments closed