Tag: literature
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Defending the Letter “On Justice and Open Debate” in Harper’s Magazine
On July 7th, Harper’s Magazine published a letter on its website that was signed by more than a hundred prominent writers, scholars, intellectuals and leaders of organizations. Most prominent among the prominent signers include J.K. Rowling of Harry Potter fame, Noam Chomsky, scholar and commentator, Margaret Atwood, novelist, Salman Rushdie, novelist who certainly understands the […]
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The “Human Rights Poetry” of Yevgeny Yevtushenko Very Relevant Today
By John Frederick Kaufman Speaking of his poetry, here’s what Russian poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko, who died yesterday in Tulsa, Oklahoma at the age of 84, told the Associated Press in an interview back in 2007: “I don’t call it political poetry, I call it human rights poetry; the poetry which defends human conscience as the […]
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Resist the “Instapoets”: a quick poem for the young
There are some things, like poetry, that cannot come easy if the thing is likely to last. Some advice: don’t enter a building or a poem (or any long-term relationship) that is not carefully constructed for what you risk is deconstruction of all you thought you stood upon– the present fails to slam the past and you fall until you […]
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Reflections on “postmodernism” upon the death of Professor Ihab Hassan
Though perhaps only of interest to students of American literature, the death this past week of former UW-Milwaukee English professor Ihab Hassan made news because he is credited for creating the term “postmodernism” to describe a style of thinking and writing prominent in the latter half of the 20th century, say after the trauma of […]
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“What We Must Preserve”
(This poem of mine first appeared in the last issue of Verse Wisconsin, Issue 113, in April 2014.) What We Must Preserve by John Kaufman To hear each other, what we must preserve is the dignity of trees, obstinacy of rock, the patient way a book occupies space, its voice less than […]
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Silent for the Summer
Posts on The Afternoon Journal will resume in September with a more national, diverse perspective. In the meantime, please see the list of the most recent posts and comments (as well as archived content) in the left sidebar. JK
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New Poems by Rebecca Kylie Law
[Today I’m pleased to present three new poems by Australian poet Rebecca Kylie Law. The poems were submitted to The Afternoon Journal and are published for the first time. Please note the copyright: All rights reserved.] For St Francis of Paola, Hermit In the afternoon becoming night, noticing small ribbed shells the […]
The Pacific 