I’ve always been fascinated by Robert Frost’s poetry, but it wasn’t until I read his biography that I started to feel a strange kinship with him. Not because we share similar experiences or interests, but because of the way he…
Anna Comnena – the Byzantine princess who wrote a monumental history of her father’s reign, the Alexiad. I’ve been fascinated by her for a while now, and as I delve deeper into her life and work, I find myself drawn…
I’ve been reading Giorgio Agamben for months now, and I still can’t quite shake the feeling that he’s speaking directly to me. Or rather, that his words are echoing through my mind long after I close his books. It started…
I’ve always been drawn to Sarah Orne Jewett’s writing, but it’s not just her stories that captivate me – it’s the way she explores the complexities of human relationships and the quiet, unassuming ways people navigate life’s difficulties. As someone…
Claude Shannon has been on my mind a lot lately, which is weird because I never thought about him before college. My professor assigned us to read his paper “A Mathematical Theory of Communication,” and at first, I was like,…
I’ve always been drawn to Edna St. Vincent Millay’s poetry, but lately, I find myself more fascinated by her life than her words. As a writer, I’m trained to dissect language and meaning, but with Millay, it’s the messy entanglement…
I’ve been thinking a lot about Arthur Schopenhauer lately, and it’s become clear that my fascination with him has less to do with his philosophical ideas than with the way they make me feel. I find myself drawn to the…
I’ve always been fascinated by Jeanette Winterson’s unflinching gaze at the self. Her writing is like a mirror held up to my own complexities, and I find myself drawn to her unwavering commitment to exploring the inner workings of her…
Thomas Kuhn’s name keeps popping up in my philosophy of science class, and I have to admit, it’s been a bit disorienting. At first, I thought I was familiar with him – the “paradigm shift” phrase is ubiquitous enough, after…
I’ve been drawn to Maria Irene Fornes for a while now, but it’s only recently that I’ve started to grasp why her work speaks to me on such a deep level. As a writer myself, I’m fascinated by the way…
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,…
