Author: penwithlit

The plight of refugees stalks the headlines: devastating wrecks off the coast of Greece, Ukrainian children orphaned and uprooted, often welcomed but sometimes mocked and bespattered by their peers. For those of us who have experienced displacement in the past, such stories bring back painful memories and old fears. I recall my family’s early days in Los Angeles — recall my mother’s struggles to clear the bureaucratic hurdles all immigrants face, as well as the playground bullying to which my friends and I were subjected. One of the chapters in the second part of Alexander Voloshin’s On the Tracks and at Crossroads recounts some of those perennial émigré troubles, applying to them a therapeutic layer of absurdist humor. Laughter was how my friends and I coped with our challenges, too; eventually, those challenges fell away, while we, I’m happy to say, are still laughing.

At this point in his…

Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 1960s

As I noted at the start of this year, although I’m far from LA, I still keep one eye on the latest Angeleno developments. The Los Angeles Times is always a reliable source — a source, as I told my wonderful audience at the LA Times Festival of Books a week ago, which I’ve often plundered for epigraphs when writing poems about the city. Yesterday’s edition brought to light an incident that… well, I’ll let reporter Christi Carras tell it:

Molly Grant was enjoying the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s performance of Tchaikovsky’s fifth symphony on Friday at the Walt Disney Concert Hall when she heard what she described as a “scream/moan” erupt from the balcony.

“Everyone kind of turned to see what was happening,” Grant, who was seated near the person who allegedly made the noise, told The Times on Sunday in a phone interview.

“I…

As some of you may know, the groundbreaking feminist publisher Virago Press is celebrating its 50^th Anniversary this week. Since 1973, Virago has been championing women writers, showcasing their voices to readers around the world with great success.

To mark the occasion, I’ve selected eight of my favourite Virago Modern Classics in their original green livery, complete with those gorgeous covers and iconic green spines. The VMCs were launched in 1978 with Antonia White’s Frost in May, so they too have a notable anniversary (at 45) this year.

The Soul of Kindness by Elizabeth Taylor

Elizabeth Taylor has become one of my very favourite writers over the last ten years, so much so that I could have quite easily filled all eight slots with her books. Nevertheless, I’m limiting myself to one book per author to highlight a range of women writers. Naturally, Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont

A random survey of self-portraits created by women through the centuries

Canadian painter and ceramist Bobs Cogill Haworth (1900-1988)

1. Self Portrait, 1940s / Oil on canvas / Art Windsor-Essex, Windsor, Ontario

2. Self Portrait, c.1936 / Oil on primed linen / Confederation Centre of the Arts, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island

3. Self Portrait, ND / Oil on canvas / Private collection

4. Self Portrait, ND / Oil on canvas / Private collection

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