Jacob Burckhardt has been on my mind a lot lately, which is weird because I don’t even remember how I first came across him. He’s this Swiss historian from the 19th century who wrote about the Renaissance, but for some…
Marguerite Yourcenar has been sitting on my bookshelf for months, her slender novel “Memoirs of Hadrian” collecting dust next to my worn copy of The Bell Jar. I picked it up the other day, feeling a sense of obligation to…
I’ll be honest, I stumbled upon George Meredith’s name while browsing through a used bookstore last semester. His poetry collection, “Modern Love,” caught my eye because of the title – something about it resonated with me as someone who’s navigated…
I’ll be honest, I wasn’t always drawn to Chinua Achebe’s work. In fact, it was only after stumbling upon “Things Fall Apart” in a used bookstore that I began to read him extensively. But there’s something about his writing that…
Ryszard Kapuscinski’s name keeps popping up in my reading list, and I’m not sure why it resonates with me so much. At first glance, he was just another journalist who traveled the world, reporting on conflicts and telling stories that…
I’ve always been drawn to Ananda Coomaraswamy, the Ceylonese philosopher who spent most of his life in the United States, critiquing Western thought and defending Eastern traditions. What fascinates me about him is the tension between his intellectual pursuits and…
I’ll be honest, I only recently stumbled upon Yves Bonnefoy’s work, and yet his poetry has left an indelible mark on me. There’s something about the way he weaves together myth, history, and personal experience that resonates deeply with my…
I’ve always been fascinated by Georg Simmel, the German philosopher and sociologist who lived a century ago. As I sit here with my laptop open to one of his essays, I find myself drawn into the world he described –…
Cornel West has been on my mind a lot lately, and I’m not entirely sure why. Maybe it’s because we’re around the same age, or maybe it’s because our shared experiences as educated young people grappling with social justice issues…
Evelyn Scott. I keep coming back to her, trying to grasp why she’s stuck with me like a nagging thought that refuses to fade. It’s not just her writing – though her stories are like nothing I’ve ever read before,…
I’ve been thinking about Gaston Gallimard a lot lately, not because I’m an expert on French publishing history or anything like that, but because he’s just so… complicated to me. I mean, who is this guy? A publisher, yes, but…
I’ve been fascinated by Lorine Niedecker’s poetry for a while now, but the more I read her work, the more complicated it becomes. Her life story is one of quiet dedication to art and nature, which resonates with me on…
Mikhail Bakhtin. I’m still trying to wrap my head around him, but the more I read, the more I feel like he’s speaking directly to me – or rather, to the parts of myself that get tangled up in language…
Marina Abramovic. I’ve spent countless hours staring at her face, watching her body contort into impossible shapes, and wondering what drives someone to push their physical limits like that. Her work is often described as “performative,” but that sounds too…
J.L. Austin’s name keeps popping up in my philosophy readings, but it wasn’t until I stumbled upon a lecture recording of his that I felt like I was finally meeting the man behind the theories. As I listened to him…
Ruth Benedict has been on my mind a lot lately, ever since I finished reading her classic anthropology text, “Patterns of Culture”. As I delved into the book, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of connection to this woman…
I’ve been fascinated with Judith Butler for years, but it’s only recently that I’ve started to grapple with the implications of her work on my own life. As a writer and a feminist, I’ve always been drawn to her critiques…
I’ve always been drawn to Amartya Sen’s idea that our choices, not just our circumstances, are what shape who we become. It’s a notion that resonates with me on a deep level, especially as I navigate the complexities of post-grad…
Elizabeth Jennings. Her name has been etched into my mind, but not for the reasons you might think. It’s not because of her historical significance as a conductor on the first African American women-led passenger train or her pioneering work…
Robert Lowell’s life has been on my mind a lot lately, probably because I just finished college and am trying to figure out what comes next for me. As I reflect on his experiences, I’m drawn to the tension between…
