Category Archives: literature

Obama's Nowruz Message to Iran: The Poetry of the Politics and the Politics in the Poetry

So I thought I was going to start my series on classical Iranian poetry with Shahnameh, Iran’s national epic, because it is what I am working on right now, but President Obama’s videotaped Nowruz message to Iran, in which he … Continue reading

Posted in Iran, literature | 7 Comments

And Now For Something Completely Different: Classical Iranian Poetry

From antisemitism to condoms to….classical Iranian poetry. I was all set to finish the third part of my Thinking About Condoms series (here and here), which I do still plan to complete, when I realized that giving time to that … Continue reading

Posted in Iran, literature, Recommended Reading | 3 Comments

Suheir Hammad, A Poet Whose Work You Should Probably Know

Given some of the discussion generated by Jake’s comment on David’s Breaking The Seals post, I thought people here might be interested to know about (if you don’t already) the work of Palestinian poet Suheir Hammad. I wrote about her … Continue reading

Posted in Anti-Semitism, International issues, Jews and Judaism, literature, Palestine & Israel | 1 Comment

The Poetry Brothel…Satire Or What?

There is a new kind of poetry happening in NYC called The Poetry Brothel. The basic idea is that the poets are prostitutes and the patrons are johns who pay to have poetry read to them in private. There is … Continue reading

Posted in Class, poverty, labor, & related issues, Feminism, sexism, etc, Free speech, censorship, copyright law, etc., Gender and the Body, literature, Sex work, porn, etc | 6 Comments

I recorded a Peter Beagle short story for Podcastle!

Head over to Podcastle to hear me read "Gordon, the Self-Made Cat," by Peter S. Beagle. I was a huge Beagle fan as a kid, so being able to record this was a major “squeeeee!” moment for me.

Posted in literature | 3 Comments

"I Don't Get No Respect," Said the Adverb, Bitterly.

Pity the adverb. Once, it was a perfectly respectable part of the English language, one that did unto verbs what adjectives do unto nouns — that is to say, modify them. And such modification was considered understandable — after all, … Continue reading

Posted in literature, Whatever | 9 Comments

The Fire and the Word: The Most Complete History of the Zapatista Movement

Kristin Bricker blogs:
Mexican journalist Gloria Muñoz Ramírez says that in 1997 she left her work, her family, and her friends to live in Zapatista communities. Her book The Fire and the Word: A History of the Zapatista Movement is the result of seven years of research, interviews, and—most importantly—listening in Zapatista territory.
Originally published in Spanish […] Continue reading

Posted in literature, Syndicated feeds | 1 Comment

Reading Capital with David Harvey

Bhupinder blogs:
Listening to David Harvey’s lectures on Capital Vol 1 not only gave me a feeling that I was re- reading Capital but also provided a refreshing enthusiasm that I had experienced when first reading the tome. Though the first three chapters are considered to be somewhat intimidating, these three chapters are also the […] Continue reading

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Another review of an older anthology (2004 this time): The Faery Reel, eds. Terri Windling & Ellen Datlow

At some point — I think in Locus? — I read an interview with Gordon Van Gelder in which he described his reaction to elves as being like lactose intolerance. “I’m elf intolerant,” he said. I am also elf intolerant. … Continue reading

Posted in literature | 9 Comments

A Totally Timely Review of the anthology The Coyote Road

I recently read through Ellen Datlow and Terry Windling’s anthology The Coyote Road, which isn’t a new release or anything. But hey. Since I took notes on the anthology, I thought I’d share them, for whatever they’re worth (probably not … Continue reading

Posted in literature | 4 Comments