Recent blog posts

"We have a Cold War on the Russian soul," said Mikhail Shishkin. Lines are drawn, barricades are up. On one side are the nationalists and isolationists who proclaim Russia to be the center of the world and a power to be reckoned with. On the other side of the barricade are the internationalists who see affinity with Europe and a greater, global cosmopolitan attitude. These starkly drawn political lines extend into cultural spheres, bifurcating the Russian arts and cultural scene.

Today, May Day, workers, students, immigrants, and all those who struggle for equality and democracy worldwide will take to the streets in a show of strength and solidarity. On May Day 2013, coming just a week after a factory collapse in Bangladesh cost the lives of more than 400, as technocrats in Brussels continue to bleed the sick economies of Southern Europe with self-defeating austerity measures, and here, in the United States, as more and more men and women, young and old alike are added to rolls of the precarious workforce, we at The Mantle add our voices to all those in the square:

Tuesday, April 30, 2013, 1:00pm
The Library at The Public Theater 425 Lafayette Street, New York, NY 10003

When the Atlantic Ocean swelled on the night of October 29^th, the winds of Hurricane Sandy pummeled through the eastern seaboard, moving from Florida to Maine, leaving at least 72 dead, and unimaginable destruction in its wake. It has been five months since that night in which Javier Morán, José Parra, and Felipa Campos, three of countless undocumented immigrants, lost their home to the floods of the storm.

In advance of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature, I sat down with the scholar and translator Susan Bernofsky to discuss the art and technique of translating literature. PEN's Translation Committee, which Bernofsky chairs, has arranged for three translation related events at this year's festival.

On April 15th, I gave a lecture at NYPL's South Court Auditorium entitled, "Hamlet: Through the Looking Glass", the beginnings of part one of a much larger three part project that will be completed in 2015, at the New York Public Library's Shakespeare Week (April 15 - April 20, 2013).

Audio Lineup

Part 1: Lecture

Part 2: Q&A

Other links

On Thursday, April 18th the nomadic sojourns creative collective (nscc) held an event at WORD Brooklyn with readings by its 2012 annual journal contributors, Shaun Randol and Eric Anthamatten.

An insightful animated short put together by PBS Studios built around an interview given by the late DavidFoster Wallace. Here Wallace, who passed away in 2008, speaks on his early days a budding tennis player and the limitations of having too much ambition for perfection.

Follow Anthony on Twitter: @antbrent