What Should I Read Next?

by John Wilson

There are many great books soon to be released on this side of the Atlantic. Here's a simple preview to get you ready.  Continue Reading »

10 Mar 2023

Dana Gioia: A Poet of All Trades

by Mark Bauerlein

Dana Gioia joins the podcast to discuss his new book of poetry, Meet Me at the Lighthouse: Poems. Continue Reading »

9 Mar 2023

Briefly Noted

by Various

No Apologies: Why Civilization Depends on the Strength of Men is the latest in a string of brilliant offerings from Anthony Esolen: Out of the Ashes: Rebuilding American Culture, ­Nostalgia: Going Home in a Homeless World, and Sex and the Unreal City. Utilizing his . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Mar 2023

Litter Crew

by Paul Willis

Litter Crew Ahead.Their budget’s in the red,but still they have a signthat has always said:Litter Crew Ahead. The younger and the older,the timid and the bolder,in a ragged linethey’re down below the shoulder.In rain that makes them colder, they patiently collectthe things that we eject,our . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Mar 2023

Eros

by James Matthew Wilson

It seems a silly thing, an object ratherFor study by the great pathologists,That anyone should live in fear of Eros;But just think how their names have swelled to lists: The god who chased a woman to a tree;The Moor who crushed the breath within his love;That queen ensconced within a strange . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Mar 2023

Dust Bowl

by Catharine Savage Brosman

—After photographs by Dorothea Lange taken in the Texas Panhandle Alone, a woman stands in black and whitesurveying a discolored sky aboveand nothing on the earth around her, savea windmill, with its blades congealed on film, vain, futile. Pride has not deserted her,her stance proclaims; but . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Mar 2023

A Prayer to Jonah’s God

by Karen D'Anselmi

Forgive us, O Lord God of the Hebrews,for feeding Jonah to a large-mouthed whale.We sacrificed for You more than he did.He hid in the hull, snoozing like a babe. We prayed to Hercules of ancient days,whose double pillars, emerald and gold,always guide us off the coast near Cadiz.But our gods will . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Mar 2023

Strange Flesh. Strange Drink.

by John Wilson

Nothing I have read of late matches the clarity with which that last pithy paragraph of Micah Mattix's recent essay illuminates our present moment.  Continue Reading »

10 Feb 2023

Micah Mattix on The Integrity of Poetry

by R. R. Reno

Editor R. R. Reno is joined by Micah Mattix to talk about his article, “The Integrity of Poetry,” from the February 2023 issue. Continue Reading »

2 Feb 2023

The Integrity of Poetry

by Micah Mattix

Last year marked the thirtieth anniversary of Dana Gioia’s Can Poetry Matter?, a follow-up to his famous 1991 article in The Atlantic. The article and book caused quite a stir. Gioia observed that poetry was no longer a part of intellectual life in America. It was not published in . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Feb 2023