Vincent van Gogh in his own words

November 3, 2009

“There is scarcely one letter by Van Gogh which I, who am certainly no expert, do not find fascinating.”            – W. H. Auden Fifteen years in the making, the Van Gogh Museum and the Huygens Institute in The Hague have just released a comprehensive, annotated edition of Vincent van Gogh’s letters, which serve as a […]


Five Muslim American poets at Northwestern University

October 19, 2009

When   Monday, October 26, 2009   Time   10:00 AM – 7:00 PM   Where   Annie May Swift Auditorium 1920 Campus Dr   map it Audience   – Faculty/Staff – Student – Public Contact   Jennifer Lynn Britton   j-britton@northwestern.edu Group   English Department More Info   http://www.english.northwestern.edu/documents/MuslimAmPoets.pdf Kazim Ali, Ibtisam Barakat,Raza Ali […]


Michael Pollan vs. Meat

October 17, 2009

The always venerable Democracy Now is today reporting that administrators at California Polytechnic State University refused to let author Michael Pollan (The Omnivore’s Dilemma, In Defense of Food) deliver a planned lecture on sustainable food at the university last night. An esteemed author and expert on food politics and sustainable agriculture being muzzled at a state […]


Library Funnies…

October 17, 2009

“Beauty is Nothing Without Brains” (…or a reference interview gone horribly wrong?)[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yy1gTAsB9gg]


Under Observation

October 11, 2009

The 2009 Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded to Herta Müller, “who, with the concentration of poetry and the frankness of prose, depicts the landscape of the dispossessed.” A native of Romania, Müller was one of many who opposed the oppressive Ceauşescu regime, and much of her work reflects the theme of living under […]


Explore the World Before Lunch

October 5, 2009

There is something about maps that inspires wonder, excitement, and possibility. But with today’s heavy reliance on GPS units, satellites, radar, and other technological advances to the world of travel, much of the mystery and allure of stepping out into the unknown has been lost. It has become so easy to just hop into a car, […]


An Interview with Jonathan Miles

October 3, 2009

Jonathan Miles has spent years writing for various magazines and newspapers around the country. He is currently a columnist and editor at Men’s Journal and writes the biweekly cocktails column “Shaken and Stirred” for the New York Times. He has also had pieces featured in the Best American Sports Writing and Best American Crime Writing anthologies. […]


View Ken Burns’ New Film Online

October 2, 2009

Ken Burns, filmmaker and master documentarian of all things American (The Civil War, Baseball, Jazz, Brooklyn Bridge, The Congress, The Statue of Liberty) has a brand new film debuting on PBS this fall. This time out, Burns has set his sights on America’s National Park Service in his film entitled The National Parks: America’s Best Idea. […]


Have You Read . . . ?

September 28, 2009

Pictures From a Drawer: Prison and the Art of Portraiture by Bruce Jackson They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and paging through this simple yet riveting book breathes a powerful new breath of truth into the tired old adage. The book is comprised of old prisoner identification photographs of inmates housed in Arkansas’ […]


“When Writers Speak”

September 26, 2009

 A writer ponders why many writers seem to sound smarter in print than in person… [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ldpj_5JNFoA]


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