– J.M. Coetzee from Diary of a Bad Year, 2007
Slovak illustrator Peter Klúcik was commissioned to illustrate a new version of J R R Tolkien’s The Hobbit in 1988. For the project he created 40 illustrations that were rich in detail and quite different from previous works for Tolkien books. Unfortunately, the publishing house commissioning the illustrations lost the right to publish the book. A second publisher approached him, but only for the book’s cover. Then a third publishing house bought the artwork, but also failed to secure rights to the book. So for the last three decades, Klúcik’s wonderful Sendakesque illustrations have been orphaned.
I found this simple film of everyday people from 30 countries most impacted by COVID-19 who filmed themselves in isolation to be surprisingly moving. This touching three-minute short was directed by Ivan Cash and Jacob Jonas, and it is accompanied by an original score performed by musicians around the world.
This past week, Philadelphia has used a number of those plywood panels on boarded up businesses around the city to post messages of gratitude to Philly’s essential workers.
The project is from the tourism folks at Visit Philly, who created the posters, and they even hired two local artists Symone Salib and Nicole Nikolich (aka Lace in the Moon) to install the posters.
Joy Harjo
The world begins at a kitchen table. No matter what, we must eat to live.
The gifts of earth are brought and prepared, set on the table. So it has been since creation, and it will go on.
We chase chickens or dogs away from it. Babies teethe at the corners. They scrape their knees under it.
It is here that children are given instructions on what it means to be human. We make men at it, we make women.
At this table we gossip, recall enemies and the ghosts of lovers.
Our dreams drink coffee with us as they put their arms around our children. They laugh with us at our poor falling-down selves and as we put ourselves back together once again at the table.
This table has been a house in the rain, an umbrella in the sun.
Wars have begun and ended at this table. It is a place to hide in the shadow of terror. A place to celebrate the terrible victory.
We have given birth on this table, and have prepared our parents for burial here.
At this table we sing with joy, with sorrow. We pray of suffering and remorse. We give thanks.
Perhaps the world will end at the kitchen table, while we are laughing and crying, eating of the last sweet bite.
Joy Harjo was appointed the United States poet laureate in 2019. Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1951, Harjo is a member of the Mvskoke/Creek Nation. She is the author of several books of poetry, including An American Sunrise and Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings (W. W. Norton, 2015). She is a current Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets and lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve been using this down time to plan some travels. One of the top destinations on my list for next spring is a return to Iceland. I’ve been many time over the years, but always yearn to return.
I recently re-read this marvelously creepy and fun book by the great Shirley Jackson. If you haven’y read it, give it a go; you won’t be disappointed.
I imagine that George Lucas is having a grand time in isolation. I would be if I had his library to while away the days in.
It has been especially heartbreaking to hear what’s happening in New York City this week. I come from three generations of New Yorkers on both side of my family and still have relatives in the city.
Life without books is death indeed.
Due to the pesky pandemic, international travel is not on the table right now. However, this doesn’t mean that you can’t get a taste of foreign cultures from around the world, without ever leaving your home.
Radio Garden is a web service with a visual interface that allows you to tune into an enormous variety of radio stations from around the world: Spin the globe, zoom in on the country that you want to listen in on and select a radio station. And, Bob’s your uncle, now you’re traveling. Many years ago, in the early days of the internet, there were a number of similar websites that always stoked my travel dreams. These days, Radio Garden seems to do the trick too.
According to Good Reads this map offers the most popular book in each U.S. state.
You may have seen this clever visual short story making the rounds on the interwebs this week. Take the time to read the spines to follow the theme created by Phil Shaw; it’s quite clever.
In my never-ending quest to bore everyone to tears with my fascination with the Lewis Carroll classic, here is yet another special edition of the classic children’s book. Alicia in Terra Mirabili, is the Latin translation of Alice in Wonderland. The first Latin version of this worldly renowned childhood’s book was translated by Canadian translator Clive Carruthers and published in 1964. My grasp of Latin is limited by the fact that I only studied the language for one semester in grade 7, but I still love the idea of this translation.
The book cover (above) features a beautiful illustration of the iconic figure in wonderland, the white rabbit embossed in golden. The inner artworks are equally impressive, for example, the picture adjacent to the title page depicts the courtroom in wonderland, with all sorts of creatures. The appearances of the king and queen of hearts resemble their classic designs in the playing.
Another notable feature of this edition is the end papers, which are printed with a mind-map of Alice’s adventure. Following the thread and starting with the upper right corner, there are “initium somnii” (the beginning of the dream), “cuniculi cavum” (the rabbit hole), “stagum lacrimarum” (the pool of tears) and so forth. Although the “index capitum” (right), the table of contents (distinct from the mind-map), is provided by Carruthers, I personally enjoy the game-board-like one, which is more playful as well as enables its readers to easily connect the Latin title and the picture aside.
Carroll, Ludovici. Alicia in Terra Mirabili. Translated by Clive Harcourt Carruthers, St Martin’s Press, 1964.
Travel Between The Pages 