Friday Nite Videos | June 29, 2018
Portside
In his introduction to “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” L. Frank Baum claims that the book is simply an innocent children’s story. But some scholars have found hidden criticisms of late-nineteenth-century economic policies in the book. Is it possible that one of America’s favorite children’s stories is also a subversive parable?
Writer, poet, college teacher, political activist, peace agitator and feminist,Grace Paley was a well-known and highly respected commodity to those of us active in left protest during the 1960 and much later. This new collection of her writings should remind us of what we justifiably admired most, not just her talent as a writer but her commitment to the struggle and the long haul.
The Voyage of the Sable Venus, the highly regarded debut poetry collection by Robin Coste Lewis, won the national book award this year for poetry. The title poem unites art history with the history of slavery and racism. Here, Dan Chiasson introduces this book, which has become a must-read across the literary spectrum.
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