Rachel Blau DuPlessis. Her name has been circling my mind for weeks, ever since I stumbled upon her work while researching the feminist avant-garde movement of the 1960s and ’70s. As I delved deeper into her writing, I found myself…
I’ve been reading W.B. Yeats for what feels like an eternity, but it’s really only been a few months since I stumbled upon his poetry in a used bookstore. There was something about the way his words seemed to dance…
Hannah Hoch’s collage work makes me think of the cluttered state of my own mind. I’m a writer, and writing is how I untangle thoughts that feel stuck together like torn fragments of paper. Hoch’s collages are like that too…
Georgia O’Keeffe has been on my mind a lot lately, ever since I stumbled upon her work while browsing through an art book in my college dorm’s library. Her paintings of enlarged flowers and landscapes seemed to leap off the…
Walter Benjamin has been on my mind for months now, ever since I stumbled upon his writings on art and history while researching for a paper on modernity. At first, I was drawn to the way he effortlessly weaves together…
Katherine Mansfield’s life has been a constant companion of mine since college, when I devoured her short stories like they were oxygen. There was something about the way she captured the intricacies of human relationships, the quiet desperation of modern…
I’ve always been fascinated by the contradictions of Albert Einstein’s life. On one hand, he was a brilliant physicist who revolutionized our understanding of space and time. His theories changed the way we think about the universe, and his legacy…
James Weldon Johnson has been on my mind a lot lately, and I’m not entirely sure why. Maybe it’s because I recently graduated from college with a degree in English, and his name kept popping up in my coursework. Or…
I’ll be honest, I stumbled upon Hildegard of Bingen by chance, while browsing through a used bookstore. Her name jumped off the page, and I had to look her up. At first, I was drawn to her as a trailblazer…
Seamus Heaney’s words have a way of creeping into my mind when I’m sitting at my desk, staring at the blank page in front of me. As a writer, I’ve always found solace in his poetry – its rhythms and…
I’ll be honest, Antonio Gramsci’s name has been floating around my consciousness for years, but it wasn’t until I stumbled upon his concept of “hegemony” that I felt a genuine spark of interest. Maybe it was the way he described…
Claude Monet’s paintings have been on my mind a lot lately, ever since I spent an entire morning at the Musée Marmottan Monet in Paris, staring at his Impression, Sunrise (1872). There was something about the way the light danced…
I’ve always been fascinated by Mary Shelley, but it’s not just her life story that draws me in – although the idea of writing a novel at 18 while traveling with your soon-to-be-ex-fiancé is enough to make anyone feel inadequate.…
Cesare Pavese’s words have a way of getting under my skin. I’ve spent countless hours poring over his essays, translations, and poetry, and yet, every time I revisit them, I feel like I’m uncovering something new – or rather, something…
I keep coming back to Lise Meitner, the Austrian physicist who fled her homeland during WWII only to play a crucial role in discovering nuclear fission. Her name is etched in my mind alongside those of Marie Curie and Rosalind…
I’ll never forget the day I stumbled upon Jorge Luis Borges’ short story “Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius.” It was as if I had stepped into a labyrinth and couldn’t find my way out. The more I read, the more questions…
Elizabeth Cady Stanton has been lingering in the back of my mind for weeks now, ever since I stumbled upon her name while browsing through a list of influential women from history. At first, I thought it was just another…
Soren Kierkegaard. His name has been floating around my mind for months now, ever since I stumbled upon his works while searching for inspiration for a creative writing project. At first, it was just the familiar feeling of overwhelm that…
I’ve been thinking about Emily Carr a lot lately, ever since I stumbled upon her paintings in an art history course last semester. At first, I was drawn to the vibrant colors and bold brushstrokes, but as I delved deeper…
W.E.B. Du Bois’s words have been seeping into my consciousness for years, like a slow-moving river that I’ve never quite managed to follow to its source. It started with phrases like “double-consciousness” and “the color line,” which seemed to articulate…
