Monthly Archives: September 2023

The Social Novel Tackles Our Dilemmas

By Robin Bates | Published: September 19, 2023

Maureen Corrigan says the social awareness novel is thriving and gives reasons.

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Washington’s Last Gift to Us

By Robin Bates | Published: September 18, 2023

Today is the anniversary of Washington’s momentous “Farewell Address.” To honor his decision to voluntarily relinquish power, here’s a Phillis Wheatley poem.

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A GOP Senator as Doctor Faustus

By Robin Bates | Published: September 17, 2023

Mitt Romney has accused Sen. J.D. Vance for selling himself “so cheap.” Think of the “Hillbilly Elegy” author as Faustus.

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God as a Homeless Man

By Robin Bates | Published: September 16, 2023

Former classmate Mike Hazard, poet photographer, finds God in a homeless man.

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The Poet as Pascal Wanderlust

By Robin Bates | Published: September 14, 2023

Note: If you wish to receive, via e-mail, (1) my weekly newsletter or (2) daily copies of these posts, notify me at [email protected] and indicate which you would like. I promise not to share it with anyone. Friday I’ve been reading the two most recent poetry collections of Norman Finkelstein, my best friend in grad school and a […]

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Navarro, Wells, and Acting with Impunity

By Robin Bates | Published: September 13, 2023

Recently convicted trump advisor Navarro thought he could defy the law with impunity–like Wells’s Invisible Man.

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Ted Lasso, Not Larkin, for Child Advice

By Robin Bates | Published: September 12, 2023

Larkin’s famous poem “They fuck you up, your mum and dad” is wrong in a number of interesting ways.

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The Light Brigade’s Charge & Wagner’s

By Robin Bates | Published: September 11, 2023

Does “Charge of the Light Brigade” glamorize senseless sacrifice. What would Russian soldiers in Ukraine think?

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Trump as Frankenstein’s Creature

By Robin Bates | Published: September 10, 2023

A perfect British takedown of Trump references “Frankenstein.”

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