Letters From the December 19-26, 2016, Issue Letters From the December 19-26, 2016, Issue
Return of the repressed… Book therapy… Happily enough ever after… Dylan revisited… Bentham’s revenge…
Dec 1, 2016 / Our Readers and Samuel Moyn
Seeing Mars, Seeing Red Seeing Mars, Seeing Red
As the climate warms and this planet of ours continues sprinting toward extinction, we’re seeing the cultural fixation with Mars take center stage.
Nov 19, 2016 / Sam Sax
Did Medieval Muslims Invent Modern Secularism? Did Medieval Muslims Invent Modern Secularism?
The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam was embraced by many Western intellectuals as an aid to their own secularization.
Nov 7, 2016 / Juan Cole
Bob Dylan, Nobel Laureate in Ashtray-Binding Bob Dylan, Nobel Laureate in Ashtray-Binding
The poetry in Dylan’s music has always been something different from the language on the page that we associate with poets.
Oct 13, 2016 / David Hajdu
A Seat at Solange’s Table A Seat at Solange’s Table
A poem inspired by her new album.
Oct 7, 2016 / Morgan Parker
A Poet Undone A Poet Undone
Poetry defeats poems. Beguiled by this decorous paradox, Ben Lerner’s The Hatred of Poetry evades the art’s difficulty and strangeness.
Sep 22, 2016 / Books & the Arts / John Palattella
A Part of Denise Riley’s Song A Part of Denise Riley’s Song
The shadow of ballad meter haunts Riley’s poems, which can never not be a sign of vitality.
Sep 20, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Ange Mlinko
‘Hot Sauce in Her Bag’: A Poem for Hillary Clinton ‘Hot Sauce in Her Bag’: A Poem for Hillary Clinton
Over the years, you can learn to appreciate slam poetry—much like Hillary Clinton.
Aug 19, 2016 / Khalid Rahmaan
What Breeds in ‘Standing Water’ What Breeds in ‘Standing Water’
Eleanor Chai’s poems require delving below the surface of each compact, enjambment-packed stanza, forcing the reader through a process of discovery not unlike Chai’s own origin sto...
Jul 29, 2016 / Larissa Pham
How Poems Think How Poems Think
The power of lyric poetry lies in negation, not self-assertion.
Jun 6, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Ange Mlinko