“On the whole, books are less finite than ourselves. Even the worst among them outlast their authors. … Often they sit on the shelves absorbing dust long after the writer himself has turned into a handful of dust. Yet even this form of the future is better than the memory of a few surviving relatives or friends on whom one cannot rely, and often it is precisely the appetite for this posthumous dimension which sets one’s pen in motion.”
Archives for February 2021
Lawrence Ferlinghetti Dies at 101
His Pictures of a Gone World Remain
A literary era passes. It was already past, yet it still has influence. Maybe the biggest. Because ArtsJournal was down yesterday—I know not why—I couldn’t post this. The world didn’t miss it. My account is minimal in the scheme of things but here ‘tiz anyhow, excerpted from ‘My Adventures in Fugitive Litrichur.’
Gary Lee-Nova: ‘Oblique Trajectories’
A survey exhibition of the artist’s work over more than four decades.
The exhibition at the Burnaby Art Gallery in Burnaby, B.C., Canada, will run until April 18, 2021.
The Library Is Closed
…and thoughts come in verse: ‘The stone lion at the gate / wears a mask like mine. / This is where I used to wait / for books that bind / that kept my mind at ease— / I crack them as I please. / Now I hurry home . . .’
‘Four-mile walk / double masked / fogged-up glasses / gloves and hat— / I’m a walking mummy / in deserted streets.’
The Sleep of Dreams
A contemporary artist visualizes an idea by the 17th-century ‘father of modern philosophy.’
City of Science
Truth and Lies: Covering COVID-18
How do journalists cover a crucial and complex topic like COVID-19 in this era of polarization and soundbites? Besides the challenge of quickly translating life-and-death medical and technical information to a broad audience, how do they guard against misinformation, lies, and the politicization of science? How can they dig through the many layers to bring lifesaving facts to the public?
Riding the Zoom Wagon
‘Journalism in a Time of Crisis’
The New York Review of Books will present a discussion about the ways contemporary journalism has addressed moments of political and social crisis. The program, Journalism in a Time of Crisis, is scheduled for Feb. 24 at 7:30 p.m., featuring Justine van der Leun, Howard French, Elizabeth Bruenig, Mark Danner, and Darryl Pinckney.
Because I Like to Laugh
A husband returns to the cabin after several hours of fishing and decides to take a nap. Since it is a beautiful day, his wife takes the boat out on the lake. She motors out a short distance, anchors, and reads her book. Along comes a Game Warden in his boat. Read what happens next.
Poetry Comes in Different Ways from Different Sources
David Erdos, a British poet most prolific, shows us one of them.
emmett williams: ‘universal truths’
from ‘selected shorter poems 1950-1970’ ‘universal truths / shouldn’t be / all that hard / to find . . .’
Moloko Print
Two New Books of Poems in Bilingual Editions
One by yours truly, “Your Obituary Is Waiting.” It’s a collection of “deformed sonnets,” with German translations by Gregor Pott and “flypaper collages” by Norman Ogue Mustill as counterpoint. The book design by Robert Schalinski, the paper, and the print quality are to die for, no pun. The other is “The Return” by William Cody Maher, also bilingual, with German translations by Walter Hartmann and photos by Signe Mähler, designed by Ralph Gabriel. And again the quality of the production is stunning. Furthermore, in a joint production, Moloko and Sea Urchin Editions have released “The Ex-Terr Poems” by Ed Sanders with his drawings, in an English-only edition, designed by Anneke Auer. I haven’t seen the book itself but I would bet the quality of the artifact matches the others.