Author Archives: Robin Bates

Fahrenheit 451, ICE, and MAGA Book Suppression

Fahrenheit 451’s firemen behave a lot like ICE agents while the book suppression is becoming increasingly familiar.

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

Blaze Again, Like Fire in Every Leaf

For poet Malcolm Guite, the story of Moses encountering God as a burning push prefigures the arrival of Christ.

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

Trudging Up Mount Doom with Frodo

Frodo’s strong determination to fulfill his commitment impressed me as a child and helped determine the kind of person I became.

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

Fahrenheit 451 Anticipated AI

In Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury anticipated a number of AI features.

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

Dolly and Her Imagination Library

R.I.P., Dolly Parton. And along with music and the movies, thanks for the Imagination Library. An Emily Dickinson poem comes to mind.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Comments closed

Are Lit Teachers Giving Up on Novels?

In which I examine an article complaining that college students are no longer reading novels, along with the despair of their professors. This wasn’t my experience.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Comments closed

To Find Your Walden, Look around You

In “Going to Walden,” Mary Oliver—understanding Thoreau in a deep way—refuses to, in fact, go there.

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

An Act of Kinship with One of a Feared Race

Poems by Andrea Skevington and Margaret Mackinnon on Pharaoh’s daughter and infant Moses, along with comments on reaching across ethnic lines in dark times.

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

The Silver Chair and a Childhood Love

In which I reminisce about the girl who introduced me to Narnia and how The Silver Chair helped us negotiate our friendship.

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

  • Sign up for my weekly newsletter