Pedro Saenz, The Poet’s Tomb Pain of the Matador (photo by Greg Wesson) The painting by Pedro Saenz La Tumba del Poeta reminds me of two things. One, is Pain of the Matador monument in Madrid; a...
Michelle Puelo, Shakespeare In His Study Back in 1976 and 1977, a celebrated British poet Gavin Ewart composed two sonnets in free verse, mentioning and contemplating William Shakespeare. In case you ...
When I returned to Moscow after living in England where smoking in public places has been prohibited for a number of years I found it hard at first to cope with smokers in cafes. Granted already in 20...
Many years ago I got a book full of lovely rhymed short stories. They were written by Bulgarian children author, Radoj Kirov. He was born on February 6, 1916, and studied Engineering in Prague, Bratis...
Moskvich car at the 1971 car exhibition This is a photo from 1971 car exhibition featuring Moskvich (“Muscovite”, literally). By 1970s this Soviet automobile had broken records in c...
I was reading Nabokov this morning, a translation of his celebrated Dar. It opens with a beautiful passage describing the appearance of a rainbow after the rain, particularly noting the puprle hues. I...
Representation of Venus Anadyomene in painting and in Arthus Rimbaud's sonnet reveal two strikingly different viewpoints....
Samuel Butler (1835-1902) Man is the only animal that laughs and has a state legislature. – Samuel Butler, the English author (biography at Encyclopaedia Britannica)...
When I travelled to England in late February I was surprised and relieved at once that it did not rain a bit. It did not occur to me that something drastic may be coming, but now I hear in the news th...
In Russia, we celebrate Easter on April 15 this year; contrary to the UK, Easter is not marked by days-off, – unlike Christmas holidays. I have just had a conversation with my colleague a...