June 7, 2012
Mix Tape: Live Forever
Remembering Ray Bradbury, who died this week at age 91: “I went back and saw [Mr. Electrico] that night. He sat in the chair with his sword, they pulled the […]
May 31, 2012
Mix Tape: On the Move
Poets Traci Brimhall, Amy Gerstler, Andrew Hudgins, and Timothy Liu discuss where their first drafts come from and how they evolve. A free writing workshop held on a No. 7 train […]
May 24, 2012
Mix Tape: Message in a Bottle
Here it is, the commencement address everyone’s talking about: Neil Gaiman at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. “A freelance life, a life in the arts, is sometimes like […]
May 17, 2012
Mix Tape: Reinvention
Is the “well-crafted” poem of today formulaic? According to Marjorie Perloff, yes. “The poems you will read in American Poetry Review or similar publications will, with rare exceptions, exhibit the […]
May 10, 2012
Mix Tape: Thematically Speaking, Death’s Still in the Lead
Check out this infographic of the 2011 Booker Longlist novels broken down by theme. Death is still your best bet by an overwhelming margin, but maybe Nanny Trust Issues, Homicidal […]
May 3, 2012
Mix Tape: Only Human
How to introduce an author—and how not to. Case in point: “Should a beloved, Pulitzer Prize-winning author have to hear the president of Northwestern’s Jewish students’ society call him Michael […]
February 25, 2012
Poetry, Prose, and Prosetry: Shakespeare’s Hybrid Vigor
Prose took over storytelling (both in narrative and dramatic form) beginning in the 17th century. The prose shift in full-scale narrative commences with Quijote, which is why critics have […]
February 25, 2012
Short Takes: “Truth Broken into Prismatic Hues”
An argument for creativity as an inherent human feature—not an accident of the universe or luck, but something to be cultivated. Is there a line between “nonfiction writer” and “essayist”? […]
February 23, 2012
Matchup #1: O Rare Ben Jonson vs. A Little-Known 15th Century Welsh Poet
In any discussion of elegies for a lost child, Ben Jonson’s frequently comes up. You may know the one I’m talking about: Farewell, thou child of my right hand, […]
January 6, 2009
Performance Short Takes
Sure, New York has all kinds of theater and performance stuff happening, but this year, celebrate Twelfth Night with something other than a Shakespeare revival! Is that crummy weather in […]