Not Marooned
by Obi Martin
Since I had never taught or taken an AP class before, I went on College Central’s website to figure out what it takes to make an AP world literature class different Continue reading . . . “Obi Martin: Not Marooned”
Dear readers,
The 2020 issue of the Leaf is now available for purchase on our website. It includes many original poems, as well as some that have been published on the Curator in the past year. Continue reading . . . “Leaf 2020 is available!”
Is This Pressure or Erasure?
by Conrad Martin
A meditation on “This Is Pressure, Not Erasure,” by Shannon Blank
Say you are walking along the seashore—that place where land and water seam together—and when you could have stopped, you keep on walking, because you are alone. Continue reading . . . “Is This Pressure or Erasure?”
Readers, poets, and rustics,
This Saturday, starting at 1 PM, some of the Curator’s staff will be hosting a poetry reading in Juniata County, Pennsylvania, at Kirkland’s Haven and Organic Gardens, an off-the-grid homestead in Appalachian Pennsylvania. Continue reading . . . “Poetry Reading: 7/18”
Dear readers,
Here’s the latest on Literature Camp 2020, which we’re planning to hold, Lord willing, the weekend of July 31st to August 2nd. Continue reading . . . “Come to Lit Camp!”
Toward Eternity
An Explication of Emily Dickinson’s Poem “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” Continue reading . . . “Toward Eternity”
Leaf 2020—Last Call for Submissions
Dear readers,
We thought we should remind you that the deadline for Leaf 2020 submissions is May 1st. That’s three more days to submit stories, poems, and artworks for this year’s issue of the Leaf! Continue reading . . . “Leaf 2020—Last Call for Submissions”
A Good Friday with Mr. Eliot
by Daniel Hess
The following lines come from part IV of “East Coker,” the second poem in T. S. Eliot’s Four Quartets: Continue reading . . . “A Good Friday with Mr. Eliot”
Poets in the Well
A Meditation on “Untitled 47” (“Where are the poems I want to write?”)
by Conrad Martin
Notice sometime our fraught relationship with language. Life has pressing mysteries, and words brush past them, sometimes soothing, sometimes rubbing. Expression is our compulsion, but any hope of completing the project is doomed, if not damned. Continue reading . . . “Poets in the Well”
Poetry Readings, December Through March
Friends,
Below is the information for our next few poetry readings. Please note that there will be none in December and that the reading in January will be on the second Saturday rather than the first. Continue reading . . . “Poetry Readings, December Through March”
Thankfulness Theory
by Conrad Martin
It is a great relief to be divinely commanded to do something you want to do but haven’t because deep down you feel like you didn’t have a good enough excuse. Continue reading . . . “Thankfulness Theory”
Edify
by Conrad Martin
“Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy. 2 For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people but to God. Indeed, no one understands them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit. 3 But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort. 4 Anyone who speaks in a tongue edifies themselves, but the one who prophesies edifies the church. 5 I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be edified.” (1 Corinthians 14:1-5, NIV)
Poets seem quite comfortable with the inexplicable. On the Curator, the word “mystery” appears baldly on every third page, and furtively on half the rest. Continue reading . . . “Edify”
Becoming a Musical Fool
Music in Langston Hughes’s “The Weary Blues”
by Lynn Michael Martin
The study of art today connects our era to almost every other civilization which has left any kind of record. Thus, by study of the arts, and specifically literature, the art world strives to create a binding force which celebrates inclusivity and diversity. Continue reading . . . “Becoming a Musical Fool”
Hi readers!
This is just a reminder that we will be meeting on Saturday from 6-8 pm at the Midtown Scholar Bookstore for our next poetry reading. You can find the Midtown Scholar at 1302 N 3rd St, Harrisburg, PA. We hope to see you there. Continue reading . . . “Poetry Reading on Saturday!”
Flame, Alive, Compelling
by Grace Weaver
I think most of us who have made a sustained search after Beauty, who have deeply longed for wholeness and restoration, can testify that there is a cost. Continue reading . . . “Flame, Alive, Compelling”
What We’ve Been Reading
Here, five of the Curator editors each share a line or two about the last five books they’ve read. If you need inspiration for selecting your next read, you might find some here. Continue reading . . . “What We’ve Been Reading”
The Vale of Soul Making
Self-Definition as Creative Participation and Response
by Obi Martin
The general predicament in which humanity finds itself is accepting and living well within the sorrows and limits of temporospatial reality. By “reality” I mean something that is synonymous with “life” in its common usage: Continue reading . . . “The Vale of Soul Making”
Jeff Gundy: Some Mennonite/s Writing
Some Mennonite/s Writing
Jeff Gundy
Jeff Gundy discusses several Mennonite writers and the circumstances that influenced them.
Continue reading . . . “Jeff Gundy: Some Mennonite/s Writing”
Ill-form’d, but Offspring Nonetheless
Ill-Form’d, but Offspring Nonetheless
A Reassessment of Puritan Poetry
by Lynn Michael Martin
The common view of Puritanism today is itself nearly as harsh as it presumes Puritanism to have been. The word brings to mind stiff clothes, witch hunts, long sermons preached by sour-faced ministers, and all manner of like detestable practices. Continue reading . . . “Ill-form’d, but Offspring Nonetheless”
Universal Secret
by Conrad Martin
By communion, in communion, for communion we are created, to know and be known.
If only we could speak freely from the heart; our hearts lay bare all the mind; our minds share the highest and lowest, strangest and simplest, purest desire. Continue reading . . . “Universal Secret”