Arts & Letters
A selection of recent articles on this topic
Large Language Poetry
In my ideal undergraduate course in literary criticism, the first semester would include a brisk introduction to…
On Getting Old
Two years plus a couple of weeks ago, I wrote a column that began thus: “I am…
The End of March
Stands of bearded iris, purple in mourningSpring up, early, among their cool green speartips,Pale and pointed, palmlike,…
Letter to a Middle-Aged Poet
Nature and history have made us what we are, fat hapless amateurs stranded some ninety million miles from the nearest…
Birds of the Air
Look— crimson berries for songbirds, writhing worms for red-breasted early birds, swarming mice and astonished doves plucked…
Local Weather
Moving slowly among her solemn friends,she speaks of him in the present tense.Hail flays the roof, its…
Letters
In a beautiful essay (“Against Christian Civilization,” January 2025) somewhat reminiscent of Kierkegaard’s Attack Upon “Christendom”, Paul…
What We’ve Been Reading—January 2025
R. R. Reno A friend was shocked that I had not read Saul Bellow. He sought to…
Architecture for Real People
In this episode, Anselm Audley joins Rusty Reno on The Editor’s Desk to talk about his essay “Cities…
Give the National Endowment for the Arts Back to the Public
For decades, Americans have become increasingly alienated from the American arts establishment. The main source for their…
Jane Austen Against the Smartphone
On this day in 1813, England’s most beloved novel was published. Pride and Prejudice has become the…
Unseen Skies
If you have been following this column for a while, you know I love the very idea…
Roger Scruton’s The Disappeared, Revisited
“It was inconceivable that in a town dedicated to prosperity, comfort and English order, a girl might…
Ralph Lauren, American Patriot
On January 4, President Joe Biden honored nineteen individuals with the Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor.…
The Mercurial Bob Dylan
There’s a version of Bob Dylan for everyone: small-town boy from Duluth, Minnesota; scrappy folk troubadour of…
