Category Archives: writers

R.I.P. Paul Durcan

I just heard the news that acclaimed poet Paul Durcan has died at the age of 80. The couple of obits I’ve read have been fairly obligatory although I am sure there will be more in-depth pieces as the news … Continue reading

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“Manuscripts don’t burn.” — Mikhail Bulgakov

It’s Mikhail Bulgakov’s birthday. The author of The Master and Margarita, one of the greatest novels of the 20th century. (It’s not his only work. There are many others. But I’ll be focusing on Master and Margarita today.) It’s a … Continue reading

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“I was a sinister child, lazy and cynical.” — Eve Babitz

“What I wanted, although at the time I didn’t understand what the thing was because no one ever tells you anything until you already know it, was everything. Or as much as I could get with what I had to … Continue reading

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“My dear child, I’m sure we shall be allowed to laugh in Heaven!” — Edward Lear

Edward Lear (the “father of nonsense”) was born on this day in 1812 in London. I could recite from memory a lot of his stuff when I was pretty close to the age I was in the “candid” photo above. … Continue reading

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“I know that for myself, what is deeper than I understand is often the most pertinent to me and the most lasting.” — Lorine Niedecker

It’s her birthday today. I had not heard of Lorine Niedecker, until 2010, when I took the Norton Anthology out to Block Island with me, in the hopes it would help me get back to reading again. It worked. And … Continue reading

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“Before verse can be human again it must learn to be brutal.” — Austin Clarke

“He cleared a non-Yeatsian space in which an Irish poet might build a confident poetry in English for which the term ‘Anglo-Irish’ is meaningless.” – Michael Schmidt, Lives of the Poets Austin Clarke was born in Dublin on this day … Continue reading

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“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

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“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

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“Sometimes I think no matter how one is born, no matter how one acts, there is something out of gear with one somewhere, and that must be changed. Life at its best is a grand corrective.” –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

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“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 for writing the book Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, which was made into a successful movie a couple of times – first in 1928 and then again … Continue reading

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