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Category Archives: writers
“Is there any virtue, for literature, for poetry, in the simple continuity of a tradition? I believe there is not.” — Thomas Kinsella
The Dolmen Press, operated out of Dublin, was founded in 1951 by Liam Miller, and played a crucial part in the development of Irish poetry in the mid-20th century. It was a strictly nationalist operation; before The Dolmen Press, poets … Continue reading
Posted in Books, On This Day, writers
Tagged Austin Clarke, Ezra Pound, Ireland, Irish poetry, John Montague, Michael Schmidt, poetry, Seamus Heaney, Thomas Kinsella, W.B. Yeats
2 Comments
“Fear and the absence of hatred may go well together.” — Niccolò Machiavelli
Prologue, The Jew of Malta, by Christopher Marlowe, written in 1589. Machiavelli died in 1527. You can see his posthumous reputation had ballooned, just 60 years after his death. Enter MACHIAVEL. MACHIAVEL. Albeit the world think Machiavel is dead, Yet … Continue reading
Posted in Books, On This Day, writers
Tagged Christopher Marlowe, Italy, Machiavelli, nonfiction, politics, war
10 Comments
“When April’s here and meadows wide …” — Jessie Redmon Fauset
“Better the wound forever seeking balm Than this gray calm!” –Jessie Redmon Fauset, from “Dead Fires” Jessie Redmon Fauset, whose birthday it is today, was a “forgotten writer” for many years, after her heyday in the 20s and 30s. Her … Continue reading
Posted in Books, On This Day, writers
Tagged Anne Spencer, Harlem Renaissance, Langston Hughes, poetry
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“I have been done in by both men and women. I don’t have any preference.” — Anita Loos
“I’ve had my best times trailing a Mainbocher evening gown across a sawdust floor. I’ve always loved high style in low company.” — Anita Loos Anita Loos’ screenwriting credits are so extensive it’s impossible to absorb them. She’s most well-known … Continue reading
“For a long time, I was a caretaker — until finally I wised up.” — Patricia Bosworth
“One must know a bad performance to know a good one. You can’t be middle-of-the-road about it, just as you can’t be middle-of-the-road about life. I mean, you can’t say about Hitler, I can take him or leave him. Well, … Continue reading
Posted in writers
Tagged Actors Studio, Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, Patricia Bosworth
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When proud-pied April, dressed in all his trim, / Hath put a spirit of youth in everything …
“Play to the lines, through the lines, but never between the lines. There simply isn’t time for it.” – George Bernard Shaw to actress Ellen Terry on performing Shakespeare, 1896 Today is (supposedly, roughly) the birthday of William Shakespeare. April … Continue reading
Posted in On This Day, Theatre, writers
Tagged Ben Jonson, Ford Madox Ford, George Bernard Shaw, Michael Schmidt, poetry, W.H. Auden, William Shakespeare
9 Comments
“We look at the world once, in childhood. The rest is memory.” — Louise Glück
It’s her birthday today. Louise Glück’s poetry sometimes hurts, touching wounds or fears and dreads so deep you don’t want to acknowledge they even exist. It feels like these things might overwhelm you if you give them any space. Glück … Continue reading
“There is only one difference between a madman and me. I am not mad.” — Charlotte Brontë
“It is in vain to say human beings ought to be satisfied with tranquility: they must have action; and they will make it if they cannot find it.” — Charlotte Brontë Charlotte Brontë was born on this day, in 1816. … Continue reading
Posted in Books, On This Day, writers
Tagged Camille Paglia, Charlotte Bronte, Emily Bronte, fiction, Jane Eyre, Jeanette Winterson, L.M. Montgomery, Michael Schmidt, Villette
12 Comments
“Good acting is thinking in front of the camera. I just do that and apply a sense of humor to it. You have to trust the audience to get it.” — Charles Grodin
It’s Charles Grodin’s birthday today. Here is a re-post of the piece I wrote when Charles Grodin died in 2021. Heartbreak Kid. Ishtar. Heaven Can Wait. Midnight Run. Muppet Caper. Rosemary’s Baby. Seems Like Old Times (not as well-known, but … Continue reading
“The only cause I espouse is man’s right to find his own centre, stand firm, speak out, then be kind.” — Michael Davitt, “Dissenter”
Save your breath, Poem maker Keep it under wraps In the tall tree of yourself — Michael Davitt Both quotes above are English translations of the original Irish language versions, just to be clear. Poet Michael Davitt, born (on this … Continue reading