Gloria is spending Christmas and the holidays with me and my Hubby. She is very happy! On Christmas Eve I asked her if she wanted to write a letter to Santa. Yes, and no. She felt awkward telling me that she wanted something special. So, we had a heart-to-heart talk. The conversation went something like […]
Gloria’s Surprise Santa Gift
Born December 26, 1891, Henry Miller shattered the boundaries of modern English prose. By challenging censorship, embracing radical autobiography, and reshaping sentence rhythm, he expanded what English could legally, morally, and stylistically express. His work transformed prose into a vehicle of personal freedom, intensity, and unapologetic subjectivity.
Birth of Henry Miller (1891–1980) – The Writer Who Forced English Prose to Break Its Restraints
Born December 19, 1910, Jean Genet reshaped modern drama and literary thought in English through translation and performance. His ritualistic, confrontational language challenged realism, power, and identity, forcing English theatre and criticism to confront marginality as aesthetic force and political stance rather than subject matter.
Birth of Jean Genet (1910–1986) – The Writer Who Forced English to Speak the Language of Transgression
We fear life as much as death. And our cynicism, a persistent sense of hopelessness, is little more than a balm for that anxiety, although we may, outwardly, detest it. If you ask many people, and they’re honest with you, they’ll tell you that depression is preferred to anxiety; they’d rather be sad than scared. […]
The Terrified Cynic: Why Some Prefer Depression to Anxiety
Joseph Heller transformed English-language satire by exposing the absurdity of bureaucratic logic and institutional speech. With Catch-22, he introduced a lasting idiom, reshaped the war novel, and showed how English can both reveal and distort reality. His work endures as a critique of power, language, and contradiction.
Death of Joseph Heller (1923–1999) – The Novelist Who Gave English Its Most Famous Paradox
Emily Dickinson, born December 10, 1830, transformed English poetry through her dashes, compressed imagery, and metaphysical vision. Her private writings reshaped the lyric, proving that English could whisper, fracture, and blaze with revelation. From one quiet room, she revolutionized how the language breathes, pauses, and imagines.
Birth of Emily Dickinson (1830–1886) – The Private Genius Who Rewrote English Poetry
Comme photographe et comme personne, nous sommes souvent les témoins involontaires et indiscrets de plusieurs instants de vie pour lesquels l’intimité des gens semble compromise par l’impertinence de notre présence. Dans cette partie d’image captée lors de mon récent et bref séjour à Paris j’ai d’abord remarqué cette scène remarquable de désespoir et de tendresse […]
Fragment de vie dans un fragment d’image …
The poetry of John Clare feels different from that of other Romantic poets. Since I am fully aware of what an ambiguous characterization that is, I will attempt to qualify some of the differences I see in his poems and, specifically, in his understanding of Nature. When I read the poems of Wordsworth or Coleridge, […]
Nature or Nurture? John Clare, Peasant Poet
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