Tag Archives: Archive.org
Mermans and Mermaids
Hans Christian Andersen was an ugly duckling who tried all his life to become a swan. Born in Denmark in 1805, his childhood was dominated by poverty, mismatched parents, and an ambiguous sexual identity. Attracted to both men and women, … Continue reading
Why Keep a Journal
In “On Keeping a Notebook”, Joan Didion writes that she was just a child when she began keeping a journal. Her mother had given her a Big Chief tablet and told her, instead of whining, to amuse herself by writing … Continue reading
The Bluest Eye
Toni Morrison’s THE BLUEST EYE, although beautifully written, is a difficult book to read. Its topics of racism, incest, and child molestation keep the stomach in knots. Thus, despite the magnificent prose, there can be nothing poetic about the horrors … Continue reading
Katherine Anne Porter
Katherine Anne Porter was born in Texas in 1890. Her mother died when she was just a child and her father, overwhelmed, dumped his daughter on relatives. So it’s not surprising that Katherine did her best to run away from … Continue reading
Today I Found a Poem
It’s been raining every day now for about 10 days. The weather is becoming a serial psycho-killer. So I’m sitting here at the dining room table with the window curtains pulled back trying to squeeze in as much light as … Continue reading



