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I've revised the cartoon a little - made it more explicitly about opposing genocide in Gaza, and erased the star…
conservatives are happy to judge women, queer people, immigrants and the poor based on nothing but conspiracy theories and internet…
conservatives are happy to judge women, queer people, immigrants and the poor based on nothing but conspiracy theories and internet…
We're human. We judge everything on incomplete information. I judge each and every comment I read. I judge people I…
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Author Archives: Richard Jeffrey Newman
One of My Favorite Poems by Saadi of Shiraz
I’ve been thinking about this poem a lot lately, because what it says could easily have been labeled heresy by the authorities of Saadi’s time, which was 13th century Iran, and an accusation of heresy could, conceivably, have gotten him … Continue reading
Two Pieces of Good News to Share
In April, I was fortunate to be part of the Poetry Heals program cosponsored by my published, CavanKerry Press, and the New Jersey Council for the Humanities. The program brings poets to hospitals to lead workshop for health care providers … Continue reading
Posted in Writing
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Farid al-Din Attar: A Reading Journal 5
When I was in my twenties, a friend and I used to talk all the time about how impoverished the English vocabulary for love is, not just in the sense that we use the word love to talk about our … Continue reading
Posted in literature, Religion
Tagged conference of the birds, ilahi nameh, persian literature
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For All Academics/Writers Who Read Alas: A Call for Papers You Might be Interested In
In April 2014, I will be chairing a seminar called “Writers & Critics: Gender Studies Forum” at the Northeast Modern Language Association’s annual conference in Harrisberg, Pennsylvania (April 3-6). The conference website is here and the full CFP page is here. Listed … Continue reading
Would You Give Your Life for Your Art?
People often tell me that my poems are brave, that reciting them publicly takes courage. I understand what they mean by that, and I thank them for the compliment they intend, but it also always makes me cringe. I think … Continue reading
Posted in Afghanistan, Writing
5 Comments
Tonight, I’ve Been Thinking About Sex
I am trying to remember the first time I understood, really understood, that sex was nothing but touch, that I wanted the sex I had to be about finding ways to touch people that would leave them feeling fully and … Continue reading
Posted in Sex
6 Comments
Farid al-Din Attar Translation in Progress: “Do The Latter”
I find the politics of this poem fascinating. For Attar to show this much respect for a religious tradition he describes in such barbaric terms, suggests a willingness to grant a certain level of validity to other beliefs that I … Continue reading
Posted in Writing
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Attar in Progress: “This Tale Applies to You”
This is a story that has been told in several different versions. Here is my first pass at Attar’s take on it in Elahi Nameh. Izrail is the name of the Angel of Death: I’ve heard that one day Izrail, … Continue reading
Posted in Writing
4 Comments
Review of “No Ocean Here,” by Sweta Srivastava Vikram
Let’s get the obvious, by which I do not mean inconsequential, out of the way first. When a writer chooses to use her art to give voice to those who might otherwise be voiceless, that choice deserves to be recognized … Continue reading
Posted in Writing
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@Megalodon: Yes, but god forbid that we judge Charlie Kirk on his extremely lengthy record of public speech on practically…