Category Archives: Writing

Fear and Loathing in America

I have long been a fan of the outrageous gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson. More recently I found myself binge watching the television show Succession which stars the great Scotish actor Brian Cox. So I was tickled to stumble on the … Continue reading

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Orwell, Animal Farm and Ukraine

In 1946, Ihor Szewczenko ,who was a linguist who had been editing pocket-sized Ukrainian-English dictionaries for refugees in displaced persons camps in Germany, wrote to George Orwell requesting permission to translate Animal Farm into Ukrainian. He explained that his Ukrainian … Continue reading

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World Poetry Day

Home by Warsan Shire no one leaves home unless home is the mouth of a shark you only run for the border when you see the whole city running as well your neighbors running faster than you breath bloody in … Continue reading

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Everybody Loves a Good Book Hoax

When I was a young child growing up outside of New York City one of the most popular late-night radio personalitues was the wonderful raconteur Jean Shepard. Although he became better known for writing the classic holiday film A Christmas … Continue reading

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Book the Vote

The group Writers for Democratic Action along with dozens of independent booksellers, librarians, and the student group Democracy Matters has launched a new project called  Book the Vote, with the aim of registering more voters, particularly in battleground states, before … Continue reading

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“Nothing behind me, everything ahead of me, as is ever so on the road.”

Like many old codgers from my generation, the Beat writer Jack Kerouac had a tremendous influence on my adolescent world view. His seminal novel On The Road encouraged wanderlust for millions of young people, including yours truly. This week marked the centennial … Continue reading

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Man serves the interests of no creature except himself

I first read George Orwell’s seminal anti-totalitarianism satire  Animal Farm when I lacked the political sophistication to truly understand the significance of the story, but some how I managed to grasp the essential themes of idealism, power and corruption in … Continue reading

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About suffering they were never wrong

W. H. Auden’s “Musée des Beaux Arts,” written in 1938, is one of the better-known examples of ekphrasis, or poems inspired by artworks, up there with Keats’s “Ode on a Grecian Urn” and Rilke’s “Archaic Torso of Apollo.”Auden’s subject is … Continue reading

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forever making poems in the lap of death

Humanity I Love You Humanity i love you because you would rather black the boots of success than enquire whose soul dangles from his watch-chain which would be embarrassing for both parties and because you unflinchingly applaud all songs containing … Continue reading

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