Category Archives: literature

An Edition of the Christian Bible Edited Entirely by Jews

Posted on November 30, 2011 by Richard Jeffrey Newman

I confess that I am among those Jews about whom Professors Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler write in the introduction to their recently published The Jewish Annotated New Testament who tend to “believe that any annotated New Testament is … Continue reading →

Posted in Jews and Judaism, literature | 12 Comments

storySouth Million Writers Award 2011

Posted on June 8, 2011 by Mandolin

I just had the chance to read over the 10 finalists for the storySouth Million Writers Award. (By the way, this award is for stories that were first published online–of any genre–so people who usually avoid my recommendations because they … Continue reading →

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Deconstructing Sheri Tepper’s 2008 Interview with Strange Horizons

Posted on April 15, 2011 by Mandolin

So, someone asked me what was so offensive about Tepper’s interview. After reading her comments, I’m convinced that it might actually be helpful to some people if I did a deconstruction. I don’t usually fisk things because it’s a format … Continue reading →

Posted in Abortion & reproductive rights, Class, poverty, labor, & related issues, Disabled Rights & Issues, Environmental issues, Feminism, sexism, etc, International issues, Islamaphobia, literature, Race, racism and related issues | 64 Comments

From “My Adventures as a Social Poet,” by Langston Hughes

Posted on April 4, 2011 by Richard Jeffrey Newman

Mark Nowak’s post on Harriet, “Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of…”: On Wisconsin, Michigan, and the most famous question in the USA,” which is well worth reading in its own right, makes reference to the … Continue reading →

Posted in literature, Race, racism and related issues | 3 Comments

I Think I am Going to Like “Beautiful & pointless,” David Orr’s New Book about Modern Poetry

Posted on March 30, 2011 by Richard Jeffrey Newman

I started the book just about an hour ago over pork souvlaki at one of the diners around the corner from where I teach, and I didn’t get very far. I am tired and I also had to read in … Continue reading →

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Norouz Pirouz! Eid Moborak! Happy Iranian New Year 2011 – An Auspicious Day to Announce My New Book, “The Teller of Tales: Stories from Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh”

Posted on March 21, 2011 by Richard Jeffrey Newman

I was, actually, hoping to post this yesterday, before the changing of the year, which happened some time between 6 and 7 PM, but I was very busy and didn’t get a chance to do it. So let me take … Continue reading →

Posted in Iran, literature | Comments Off on Norouz Pirouz! Eid Moborak! Happy Iranian New Year 2011 – An Auspicious Day to Announce My New Book, “The Teller of Tales: Stories from Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh”

Persian Poetry Tuesday: The Prologue to the Story of Rostam and Sohrab in Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh

Posted on March 15, 2011 by Richard Jeffrey Newman

Written in the 10th century by Abolqasem Ferdowsi (NPR did a feature on him not too long ago), the Shahnameh (Book of Kings) is the national epic of Iran, telling the nation’s story by recounting the tales of its kings, … Continue reading →

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“Between the 1930s and the year 2000…only 32 novels were translated from Arabic into Hebrew.”

Posted on March 1, 2011 by Richard Jeffrey Newman

From a post by Olivia Snaije, Arabic and Hebrew: The Politics of Literary Translation, on the blog called Publishing Perspectives, and it is a shameful statistic if I ever saw one, almost as bad as the fact that less than … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, literature | 8 Comments

Quill Translation Award: If You Know a Translator with a Current Poetry or Novella Project who Lives in Queens, NYC

Posted on February 25, 2011 by Richard Jeffrey Newman

As promised, here are the guidelines for the Quill Translation award. Please note that submissions do not open until February 28 and that the online submission process will not be in place on the QCA website until then.

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Queens in Love with Literature (QUILL) Featured on NPR

Posted on February 24, 2011 by Richard Jeffrey Newman

I am very late in posting this spot on NPR featuring the QUILL reading I was part of last week. I don’t appear in the spot, but there is mention of the QUILL Translation Award, a $500 award to a … Continue reading →

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