Books & the Arts

View of a deteriorated section of the US-Mexico border wall

Letting Go of the Border Letting Go of the Border

In The Edge of the Plain, James Crawford explores the fragility of borders in a warming planet, and asks how we might challenge the violence they have come to represent.

Apr 10, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Francis Wade

A scene from “The Black and the Green.”

St. Clair Bourne’s Cinema of Solidarity St. Clair Bourne’s Cinema of Solidarity

The Black and the Green, which follows Black American activists who travel to Northern Ireland to learn from Irish allies, documents the necessary messiness of political organizing

Apr 6, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Yasmina Price

A scene from Knock at the Cabin

M. Night Shyamalan’s Strange Renaissance M. Night Shyamalan’s Strange Renaissance

After watching his latest, Knock at the Cabin, one can't help but wonder: What is fueling his career revival?

Apr 5, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Stephen Kearse

A demonstration at Rockefeller Center, New York city, 1968

What Are the Lessons of “Roe”? What Are the Lessons of “Roe”?

A new book chronicles the decades-long fight to legalize abortion in the United States.

Apr 4, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Moira Donegan

The Mind-Bending Fiction of Mircea Cărtărescu

The Mind-Bending Fiction of Mircea Cărtărescu The Mind-Bending Fiction of Mircea Cărtărescu

In his postmodern epic Solenoid, the Romanian novelist offers us an extraordinary and baroque elaboration of a subjectivity less than ordinary.

Apr 3, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Will Self

Nation Poetry

The City Wears a Coat to Bed The City Wears a Coat to Bed

The white army of winter spreads across the city. Boilers and radiators die in their sleep, their skin cold to the touch in the morning. The city wears a coat to bed. The city watc…

Apr 1, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Martín Espada

A Portrait of Leonard Cohen as a Young Artist

A Portrait of Leonard Cohen as a Young Artist A Portrait of Leonard Cohen as a Young Artist

A posthumous collection of early fiction, A Ballet of Lepers, chronicles how, in fits and starts, the singer came to understand the art of storytelling.

Mar 30, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Sam Sodomsky

Los Angeles's Koreatown, 1992

The Puzzle of Ryan Lee Wong’s Activist Autofiction The Puzzle of Ryan Lee Wong’s Activist Autofiction

In his debut, Which Side Are You On, he examines fractures in the Asian American community through the eyes of a recently radicalized college student.

Mar 28, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Esther Kim

A scene from All That Breathes.

A Meditation on Trans-Species Love A Meditation on Trans-Species Love

The Nation spoke with Shaunak Sen, whose film All That Breathes follows a bird hospital in New Dehli and the monumental mission of saving a city's dying black kites.

Mar 27, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Jasmine Liu

A New Continuum of Art History at the Carnegie International

A New Continuum of Art History at the Carnegie International A New Continuum of Art History at the Carnegie International

The long-running exhibition of international art offers an indispensable lesson in art outside the bounds of America’s reach and a different way to see history.

Mar 23, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky

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