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H. G. Wells and the Uncertainties of Progress

- June 27, 2019 in Books, Culture & History, future, future history, h. g. wells, Literature, progress, retrofuture, science fiction

In addition to the numerous pioneering works of science fiction by which he made his name, H. G. Wells also published a swathe of non-fiction meditations, mainly focused on themes explored in his stories — the effects of technology, human folly, and the idea of progress. As Peter J. Bowler explores, for Wells this notion of progression was far from simple.

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Walt Whitman in Russia: Three Love Affairs

- May 29, 2019 in Featured Articles, Konstantin Balmont, Kornei Chukovsky, Literature, poetry, russia, translation, Vera Ermolaeva, walt whitman, walt whitman reception in russia

Walt Whitman’s influence on the creative output of 20th-century Russia — particularly in the years surrounding the 1917 Revolution — was enormous. For the 200th anniversary of Whitman's birth, Nina Murray looks at the translators through which Russians experienced his work, not only in a literary sense — through the efforts of Konstantin Balmont and Kornei Chukovsky — but also artistic, in the avant-garde printmaking of Vera Ermolaeva.

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Walt Whitman in Russia: Three Love Affairs

- May 29, 2019 in Featured Articles, Konstantin Balmont, Kornei Chukovsky, Literature, poetry, russia, translation, Vera Ermolaeva, walt whitman, walt whitman reception in russia

Walt Whitman’s influence on the creative output of 20th-century Russia — particularly in the years surrounding the 1917 Revolution — was enormous. For the 200th anniversary of Whitman's birth, Nina Murray looks at the translators through which Russians experienced his work, not only in a literary sense — through the efforts of Konstantin Balmont and Kornei Chukovsky — but also artistic, in the avant-garde printmaking of Vera Ermolaeva.

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Loos, Lewdness, and Literature: Tales from the Boghouse

- April 17, 2019 in Boghouse Miscellany, georgian britain, georgian london, graffiti, history of graffiti, Hurlothrumbo, latrinalia, Literature, samuel johnson, toilets

In the early 1730s, a mysterious editor (known only as “Hurlothrumbo”) committed to print a remarkable anthology: transcriptions of the graffiti from England’s public latrines. For all its misogynistic and scatological tendencies, this little-known book of “latrinalia” offers a unique and fascinating insight into early Georgian life. Maximilian Novak explores.

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Loos, Lewdness, and Literature: Tales from the Boghouse

- April 17, 2019 in Boghouse Miscellany, georgian britain, georgian london, graffiti, history of graffiti, Hurlothrumbo, latrinalia, Literature, samuel johnson, toilets

In the early 1730s, a mysterious editor (known only as “Hurlothrumbo”) committed to print a remarkable anthology: transcriptions of the graffiti from England’s public latrines. For all its misogynistic and scatological tendencies, this little-known book of “latrinalia” offers a unique and fascinating insight into early Georgian life. Maximilian Novak explores.

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Vernon Lee’s Satan the Waster: Pacifism and the Avant-Garde

- March 20, 2019 in anti-war, avant-garde, Drama, Literature, pacifism, satan, vernon lee, war, warfare, world war one

Part essay collection, part play, part macabre ballet, Satan the Waster: A Philosophic War Trilogy (1920) is one of Vernon Lee's most political and experimental works. Amanda Gagel explores this modernist masterpiece which lays siege to the patriotism plaguing Europe and offers a vision for its possible pacifist future.

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Rambling Reflections: On Summers in Switzerland and Sheffield

- December 11, 2018 in Featured Articles, flâneur, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Karl phillip moritz, Literature, Philosophy, romanticism, Rousseau, w.g. sebald, walking, Yorkshire

In the footsteps of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Karl Philipp Moritz — from the peace of Lake Biel to the rugged Peaks — Seán Williams considers the connection between walking and writing.

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Mistress of a New World: Early Science Fiction in Europe’s “Age of Discovery”

- October 11, 2018 in Books, early science fiction, empire, imperialism, Literature, proto science fiction, science fiction

Considered by many one of the founding texts of the science fiction genre, The Blazing World — via a dizzy mix of animal-human hybrids, Immaterial Spirits, and burning foes — tells of a woman’s absolute rule as Empress over a parallel planet. Emily Lord Fransee explores what the book and its author Margaret Cavendish (one […]

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Eric, Count Stenbock: A Catch Of A Ghost

- September 12, 2018 in Books, count stenbock, decadence, decadent movement, eric stenbock, estonia, estonian writers, Featured Articles, gay writers, Literature, occult, occultism, oscar wilde, poetry, w. b. yeats

With his extravagant dress, entourage of exotic pets, and morbid fascinations, Count Stenbock is considered one of the greatest exemplars of the Decadent movement. David Tibet on the enigmatic writer’s short and curious life.

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“Alas, Poor YORICK!”: The Death and Life of Laurence Sterne

- March 7, 2018 in consumption, death, Featured Articles, Laurence Sterne, Literature, mortality, sentimental journey, tristram shandy

On the 250th anniversary of Laurence Sterne's death, Ian Campbell Ross looks at the engagement with mortality so important to the novelist's groundbreaking work.

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