As I read various accounts of Amiri Baraka’s life, one thing that I think often gets somewhat misunderstood is his early career in the bohemia of downtown New York City. Frequently, he is represented as a follower of white “beats” in a very pale environment. Of course, he did have something of . . .
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Address to the Faculty Senate of the University of Massachusetts, AmherstDecember 12, 2013 When I first heard the news last Thursday that Nelson Mandela had passed away, I was listening to a lecture being presented by the writer Zadie Smith, who was on campus as a guest of the English Department. The . . .
Read MoreI have very few heroes. Who does, these days? Maybe that’s why the loss of Nelson Mandela seems to compel such reflection. Maybe it’s because another of my heroes, former US Congressman Howard Wolpe, passed away two years ago, and for me the legacies of Wolpe and Mandela are inextricably bound together. . . .
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I was with friends at a conference in Britain when I got the news. “Heaney has died,” read Emily’s text. “So sad.” And as others at the conference heard over the course of the day, the reaction was similar: so sad. A former student who had studied the poet’s work with me . . .
Read MoreI imagine you’ve all heard this title before. Also that the NPR series going by this name has, on occasion, made you roll your eyes, and—maybe once or twice—stop and take notice. Moreover, my guess is that if you write at all, and especially if you have on occasion used the verb “to write” . . .
Read MoreWASHINGTON DC, 6/2/2013 – It is a high honor and privilege to be asked to participate in this tribute to the great writer, and dearly beloved and admired friend, Chinua Achebe. I want to thank the entire Achebe family and the distinguished guests present, mistress of ceremonies Dr Johnnetta Cole, and my . . .
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Chinua Achebe by Jerome Liebling, 1988, copyright Liebling Family Trust. A Brief Tribute to Professor Chinua Achebe I wouldn’t like to describe Professor Chinualumogu Achebe as an iroko tree. No, he was mightier than that. In a thick forest of copious trees, one tree always stands out: the Uzi tree. It is taller . . .
Read MoreYesterday, we needed something for the MR Facebook page. We noticed that it was Roger Federer’s birthday, but how could that be post-worthy for MR? The first issue pulled from the archives, serendipitously, had a pretty great tennis poem. It worked beautifully to tie a popular person with MR! The poem “The . . .
Read MoreFrom MR 52.3/4: “Here is what the mind does”* when my laptop opens to a small red car, a tight street,the dust gray and yellow, the electric window half open,and five little lean-to cards, on each a number to denote where a spent round ended after traveling its distance with lead certitude, with molten . . .
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First, a friend posted on my wall a thumbnail of Edward Romanzo Elmer’s Mourning Picture. We have talked often about this painting, and about Adrienne Rich’s poem about it, but because I have not yet heard the news I’m not sure why Peter is reminding me of this. I’m about to reply with . . .
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