The Machine is Learning by Tanuj Solanki

Book Review

The title of Tanuj Solanki’s book, The Machine is Learning suggests that this could be a book about a dystopian world commandeered by machines. It…

Read Article →
Of Mothers and Daughters: Pedro Almodóvar’s Julieta and Three Alice Munro Short Stories

Of Mothers and Daughters

Pedro Almodóvar’s 20th feature Julieta (2016) stays wholly with its eponymous heroine, played by the vivacious Adriana Ugarte in her younger years and by Emma…

Read Article →
Everything’s Dead But the Tree: Notes on Beckett and Alzheimer’s

Notes on Beckett and Alzheimer’s

“That’s how it is on this bitch of an earth.” — Pozzo in Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett I read Waiting for Godot this…

Read Article →
Extinctions By Josephine Wilson

Book Review

With Extinctions, Tin House Books has published an exceptional novel, smart in so many ways. Josephine Wilson’s writing is superb, the plot refreshingly original, characters…

Read Article →
His Father's Disease by Aruni Kashyap

Book Review

The central focus in Aruni Kashyap’s collection of short stories titled, His Father’s Disease, revolves around issues like violence against women, parental problems, the subtle…

Read Article →
Don’t You Know You Can’t Go Home Again?

Don’t You Know You Can’t Go Home Again?

Spending nights playing with diceGoing out on moonlight nightsKeeping the festive day in honour of springPlucking the sprouts and fruits of the mango treesEating the…

Read Article →
Love Like a Volcano

Love Like a Volcano

My boyfriend wasn’t much of a problem-solver, but he managed to be the person I called when I needed to solve a problem. He dropped…

Read Article →
The Magic & Mystery in Magical Realism

The Magic & Mystery in Magical Realism

The term magic implies sleight of hand, an ability to make things appear and disappear at will. In a magic show, magicians exercise their ability…

Read Article →
Carmen, an Essay

Carmen, an Essay

In Carmen even the swishes of the trousers seem orchestrated.  No part of the performance is relegated indecorous or immodest.  Even the most subterranean components…

Read Article →
How to be a Parasite

How to be a Parasite

Study English and Migrate/Migrate and Study English A parasite is by its very nature a wanderer, an alien, a migrant – a creature who does…

Read Article →
Chitarroni and Chatwin in Patagonia

Chitarroni and Chatwin in Patagonia

Author: Luis Chitarroni Title: From Siluetas/Silhouettes  (La Bestia Equilátera, 2012) Language:  Spanish (Argentina)  Excerpt Length: Approx. 1,300 Words Translator: Allison A. deFreeseRights Holder: Luis Chitarroni,…

Read Article →
Facing Zhang Fei: Hero or Villain or Man

Facing Zhang Fei: Hero or Villain or Man

I’m the only foreigner on a bus from Chengdu to Langzhong Ancient Town, over three hours away north-east. A middle-aged lady, Wu Yahua, is next…

Read Article →
The Consolation of Joy Williams

The Consolation of Joy Williams

Can we incorporate and treasure and be nourished by that which we do not understand? Of course. — Joy Williams It was a fresh day…

Read Article →
Holden, Charlie, and the Fight for the Coming of Age

Holden, Charlie, and the Fight for the Coming of Age

Ally H. Campanozzi delves deep into the psyche of adolescence and sexual trauma from the eyes of Holden and Charlie.

Read Article →
A Light to Read By: A Tribute to William Maxwell

A Tribute to William Maxwell

Gretchen Comba writes a tribute to William Maxwell and discusses how his pivotal moments take place in insignificant moments that occur after the tragedy.

Read Article →
Sympoetics

Sympoetics

I bought this pen (the one I am writing with now) from the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London. It is a small pen,…

Read Article →
Literary Shorthand: What Hemingway’s “A Moveable Feast” Can Teach Readers About a Useful Writing Technique

Literary Shorthand: a Useful Writing Technique

Vincent Larson offers this fun, exploratory literary criticism on Hemingway’s work, intended to help writers discover a type of literary notation that they might use in their own work.

Read Article →
Re-Thinking Thoreau: Between the Lines of His Life and Work

Re-Thinking Thoreau

“Re-Thinking Thoreau” is John Roman’s attempt to correct the legacy of Thoreau and explores how Henry was able to surmount his “issues’ during a time when medical attention and prescription drugs were not available.

Read Article →
The Nocilla Trilogy: The End of Literature?

The End of Literature?

Someone sometime said their paintings represent the end of painting; I think it was Ad Reinhardt. Years before, Piet Mondrian sought to be the world’s…

Read Article →
Bird Feeder Simulation

Bird Feeder Simulation

At our house in the woods, we often put out a bird feeder in winter once the bears hibernate. This year we were late about…

Read Article →