An Eclectic Journal of the Arts
In C Pam Zhang’s second novel, the focus is on food, but that focus is a bit hazy at times due to a plague of smog and its effects. In the not so distant future, most of the world is lost in smog, and it’s decimated humans, and wiped out most flora and fauna. Cli-Fi, […]
Spinozablue welcomes a poetry review by Hilary Sideris, and poems by John Grey, Dominik Slusarczyk, and Philip Jason. In Clare Carlisle’s excellent biography of George Eliot (1819-1880), marriage and the work of a lifetime, the novels and her relationships, take center stage, with a unique philosophy of life undergirding both. Gossip followed the novelist most […]
Bloomsday in Dublin and the Cinematic Unreal This piece was made possible by the Tom Parkinson travel writing grant, awarded by Jesus College, University of Cambridge. On June 16th, 1904, James Joyce’s hero Leopold Bloom sets out on a voyage of the glorious mundane. Ulysses (1922) traces Bloom’s steps across a single day in Dublin, […]
Spinozablue welcomes poetry by Lela Hannah, Mark DuCharme, John Grey, and Bobby Parrott. Stages. We often see our lives as passing through certain, relatively common, blocks of time, shared by vast numbers of our fellows, but varied according to era, geography, and individual contexts. They may or may not actually exist (beyond metaphor), but it’s […]
Spinozablue welcomes new works by Cherene Burdett, John Grey, Sarah Sarai, Howie Good, and Heather Sager. Greek Lessons, by Han Kang, is a beautifully written, highly poetic meditation on personal loss, grief, our five fragile senses, and how we connect with one another despite our limitations. In this case the loss of language itself, and […]
Spinozablue welcomes new poetry from Shira Dentz, Dominic Rivron, and Adam Day. The Last Pomegranate Tree, by the acclaimed Kurdish writer, Bachtyar Ali, is a magical, moving story of war, its volatile aftermath, and the search for a long-lost son who becomes two, then three. Translated from the Kurdish by Kareem Abdulrahman, this fascinating novel […]
The 2022 Nobel Prize for Literature goes to Annie Ernaux, the author of Happening, and The Years, among more than twenty other books. Born in 1940, in Normandy, she published her first book, Cleaned Out, in 1974. Several of her works have been made into movies. The Swedish Academy said this about her writing, in […]
Rings. Circles. Endless ripples in time — as metaphor. structure, or ways of life. For those seeking a kind of closure, if not final justice, digression, circumnavigation, and repetition aid and abet our journey. We end up where we started, perhaps. Perhaps not. But these divine ruses can help us remember, and remember to write […]
Francesca Stavrakopoulou, in her most recent book, God: an Anatomy, presents a vivid portrait of Yahweh, primarily as seen by his ancient devotees. She takes us on a journey throughout the Levant and Mesopotamia, covering thousands of years, multiple empires, and dozens of gods and goddesses. It’s rigorously researched throughout, and she (literally) gives us […]
THE SIBYL (Lagerkvist, P. The Sibyl. Translated by Walford, N. Vol. V-240. New York, NY: Vintage Books, 1958) I – P 1 (pinioned within the (ancient (sibyl (god’s (her son’s unchanging (smile)) touched)) rocks) heights) Sun: II – P 3-5 gazes ((below, (maelstrom (of rocks. (serene (white (the bridal)): temple)) above) the city) son). III […]