Abdul-Ahad’s recent series from Iraq is moving and deeply saddening. In this clip, he raises a question that I haven’t seen covered elsewhere. The real loss in Iraq, he says, will be when this generation of children grow up, since these children will have grown up with sectarian violence, killing, and massive displacement due to war and uncertainty.
The correspondence is deeply sentimental, but the perspective is one that is seldom seen.
In Gin before Breakfast, W. Dale Nelson takes on a topic that is more often the subject of anecdote than scholarly study. In the book’s subtitle, Nelson offers a more precise description of his subject: “the dilemma of the poet in the newsroom.” This underlying theme of the book suggests a central myth that has occupied the fields of both journalism and literature for many years–the myth that literary creativity and the business of informing the public while making a profit rarely come together, and when they do, the result is either amateurish or incomprehensible. If Nelson’s goal is to challenge this myth, he accomplishes that goal even if he often resorts to anecdote himself while making his claims.