Articles
Essays, reviews, and commentary on literature, history, politics, and ideas.
In Rothko’s Rooms
Ekphrastic poems allow a poet to amplify and expand the meaning of the piece of art being viewed.
Dream Time
The pursuit of the common good, Pope Francis argues in a new book, needs societies to focus
The Anti-Freud
Dr Trotter challenged Freud, asserting that ‘all human psychology … must be the psychology of associated man, since man as a solitary animal is unknown to us’
The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
It was once possible to regard the judge Sergio Moro as a zealous, perhaps overzealous, prosecutor of corruption.
Taming the Past
The terms ‘victim’ and ‘perpetrator’ are not mutually exclusive, in the present or in the past.
Voices from the Chorus
Given the historical amnesia that prevails, Katrina Goldstone’s account of the activity of Irish left-wing writers in the Thirties is something of a revelation.
The Europeans
Eurosceptics have been predicting the collapse of the EU for twenty years now, sure that the citizens would realise it was all an impossible dream
Webs and Networks
In popular imagination, the Arts and Crafts movement is indelibly linked to well-known figures like William Morris, John Ruskin and Edward Burne-Jones.
No Myth No Nation
A state will be at a loss if it doesn’t know where it came from.
The Sly Masquerade
For quality of output, for growth and longevity, for the honesty and intensity of his narrative voices and for the relentless quest for forms that would make sense of his and his country’s experience,
Shit Buzz in Belgrade
Kevin Power’s new novel is both riotous rant and thoughtful coming-of-age tale. The punchy lyricism enables sympathy as well as laughter
Her True Face
Sylvia Plath presented an image to the world – brilliant student, stellar emerging poet and active, outdoor girl – while within she was deeply troubled and prone to the swings of a disabling depression. A sparkling new biography does full…