Letters From the December 14, 2015, Issue Letters From the December 14, 2015, Issue
Sanders, Denmark, and Debs… tourists at the end of life… all that jive… food for the mind… one side of the story…
Nov 25, 2015 / Our Readers
A Poet Who Believed in Nothing As in Love A Poet Who Believed in Nothing As in Love
After first writing poetry to impress and entertain his wealthy parents’ guests, cosmopolitan James Merrill went cosmic.
Nov 17, 2015 / Books & the Arts / Ange Mlinko
October 30, 1885: Ezra Pound Is Born October 30, 1885: Ezra Pound Is Born
“There is no reason why poetry should not be so perplexingly simple as Mr. Pound’s, and be about nothing at all.”
Oct 30, 2015 / Richard Kreitner
Modernist Poetry in a Crowdsourcing Age Modernist Poetry in a Crowdsourcing Age
Jorie Graham resists classic pleasures like closure, a concept anathema to the poet and her country.
Oct 29, 2015 / Books & the Arts / Ange Mlinko
October 24, 1923: Denise Levertov Is Born October 24, 1923: Denise Levertov Is Born
Denise Levertov, born on this day in 1923, was The Nation’s poetry editor in the 1960s. Her first poem in our pages was “The Sage,” published in the issue of November 1, 1958. The…
Oct 24, 2015 / Richard Kreitner
Vagrancy in the Park Vagrancy in the Park
The essence of Wallace Stevens: Roses, roses. Fable and dream. The pilgrim sun.
Oct 15, 2015 / Books & the Arts / Susan Howe
September 26, 1888: T.S. Eliot Is Born September 26, 1888: T.S. Eliot Is Born
“Even the creative imagination, hallucination and vision have atrophied, so that water shall never again be struck from a rock in the desert.”
Sep 26, 2015 / Richard Kreitner
Chris Christie, Presidential Candidate Chris Christie, Presidential Candidate
When thinking now of poor Chris Christie, My heart goes out. My eyes grow misty. The White House door to him was shut, ’Twas said, unless he lost that gut. So bariatric work was do…
Aug 27, 2015 / Column / Calvin Trillin
Bicyclist Bicyclist
He wobbles on his bicycle, steadies, threads an s through traffic, clank of gears, a chain around his person, a person around its breath.
Aug 13, 2015 / Poems / Patrick Morrissey
Trump Speaks His Mind Trump Speaks His Mind
He speaks his mind, but, truth be told, he Should not have dissed that Megyn Kelly. What that made clear to any viewer: The problem’s that his mind’s a sewer.
Aug 13, 2015 / Calvin Trillin