Writing
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The History of Literature #49 – MFA Programs (The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly)
For decades, the Master of Fine Arts degree has quietly dominated the American literary scene. There are now over 100 programs where professors and students go about the business of turning dreams into fiction through the alchemy – or as some would say, the meatgrinder – known as the writing workshop. It’s a phenomenon like… Continue reading
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The History of Literature #48 – Hamlet
Hamlet (ca 1599-1602) has been called the greatest play ever written in English – and even that might not be giving it enough credit. Many would rank it among the greatest achievements in the history of humankind. Jacke Wilson takes a deeper look at the Prince of Negative Capability and his famous soliloquy. Podcast: Play in new window… Continue reading
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The History of Literature #47 – Hemingway vs Fitzgerald
Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) and F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940) were the pole stars of the Lost Generation, the collection of young American authors who came of age in the Paris and New York of the 1920s. The Hemingway-Fitzgerald relationship has been examined for decades and continues to fascinate. Why are we so drawn to these two… Continue reading
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The History of Literature #46: The Poetry of the T’ang Dynasty
China’s T’ang Dynasty (618-907 A.D.) valued poets and poetry like no other culture before or since. In this episode, Jacke Wilson takes a look at what may have been the greatest flourishing of poetry in the history of the world. Poets discussed include Ezra Pound (1885-1972), T’ao Ch’ien (365-427), Wang Wei (ca. 699-761), Li Bai (Li Po) (701-762), and Tu… Continue reading
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The History of Literature #45 – Augustine and The Confessions (pt 2)
Continuing the journey with a deeper look at the incredible achievements of St. Augustine (354 – 430 A.D.), a luminary of the early Catholic church, one of the most profound thinkers in Western culture, and the author of a work the likes of which the world had never seen, The Confessions. Host Jacke Wilson identifies five… Continue reading
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St. Augustine in Translation
We’re getting a lot of great feedback on our latest History of Literature episode, #44 – The Confessions of St. Augustine. One of the great things about Augustine is how readable it is: even though the arguments are deep, the prose is never dense, especially in a very good translation. Several of you have asked… Continue reading
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The History of Literature #44 – The Confessions of St. Augustine
The journey continues! Host Jacke Wilson takes a look at one of the deepest thinkers in the Western tradition, St. Augustine (354-430 A.D.), and the literary form he pioneered and perfected. Who was Augustine? What led him to produce one of the most influential books ever written? And what can we gain from reading The Confessions… Continue reading
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Augustine and the Art of Not Yet
“I had been putting off the moment when by spurning earthly happiness I would clear space in my life to search for wisdom; yet even to seek it, let alone find it, would have been more rewarding than discovery of treasure or possession of all the world’s kingdoms, or having every bodily pleasure at my… Continue reading
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History of Literature Episode 43 – Seeing Evil (with Professor Rebecca Messbarger)
What is evil? Is it a force that lives outside us? Or something that dwells within? And how do we recognize it? Professor Rebecca Messbarger joins Jacke to discuss the problems of seeing evil and the particular ways that post-Fascist Italian writers dealt with the dilemma. We also hear the story of how a mild-mannered Italian… Continue reading
alabama moon, anna morandi manzolini, carlo gadda, family sayings, italian enlightenment, italian post-fascist detective fiction, italo calvino, lady anatomist, leonardo sciascia, mr palomar, natalia ginzburg, rebecca messbarger, recognizing evil, that awful mess on the via merulana, todo modo, watt key -
Kitty Weeks, Welcome to the Big Time!
So many things to like about this one… I think my favorite fact about Capability “Kitty” Weeks (other than the fact that her name is Capability) is that she drives her own car. So awesome. And of course, it’s also great that she’s paving the way for women journalists everywhere and investigating a murder, too.… Continue reading
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