Category Archives: Uncategorized

Bluest Eye and Ohio’s Abortion Politics

By Robin Bates | Published: August 16, 2023

Morison’s “Bluest Eye” functions as an implicit rebuke of the Ohio legislature’s attack on abortion.

By Robin Bates | Published: August 15, 2023

The Georgia Trump indictment is like a “big baggy monster” whereas Jack Smith’s narrower indictment is like a Flaubert novel.

By Robin Bates | Published: August 14, 2023

A recent study says sorrow as much as anger led to the rise of Trump. But Beowulf teaches us that the two are related (Grendel and Grendel’s mother).

By Robin Bates | Published: August 13, 2023

The new Ancestral Footprints National Monument closes the land to uranium mining. Leslie Marmon Silko should be glad.

By Robin Bates | Published: August 12, 2023

Cohen’s “Suzanne” is a poem about spiritual searching.

By Robin Bates | Published: August 10, 2023

Two weeks of cycling in Madison have brought me to this William Stafford poem.

By Robin Bates | Published: August 9, 2023

Some Florida schools are now censoring Shakespeare, taking out the racy parts and offering only excerpts.

By Robin Bates | Published: August 8, 2023

In an essay written 12 years ago, I announce a special event with a backdrop of Mary Oliver’s blackberries.

By Robin Bates | Published: August 7, 2023

Lear and Trump are two narcissists who resort to bombastic threats when backed into a corner.