Poetry

Arts in Society

Return to the Gay Underground

Dennis Cooper became famous in the 1980s for his transgressive fiction about marginalized men. A new biography makes a case for what his works can offer readers now, in our era of deep suffering and infuriating indifference.

David B. Hobbs

Arts in Society

Witnessing Grace

In ‘Be Holding,’ celebrated poet Ross Gay interweaves the legacy of one of basketball’s greatest moments with a meditation on Black resilience.

Eric Morales-Franceschini

Arts in Society

Poet of the Impossible: Paul Celan at 100

Among the most innovative poets of European modernism, he forged a new path for poetry after the terrors of the twentieth century.

Peter E. Gordon

Arts in Society

Announcing the 2020 Boston Review Annual Poetry Contest Winner and Finalists

Congratulations to Cheswayo Mphanza!

Boston Review

Arts in Society

The Woman Erased from Bauhaus History

Lucia Moholy helped create the visual language of the Bauhaus, but when she fled the Nazis her work was stolen by Walter Gropius.

Elizabeth Hoover

Arts in Society

When the State Fears a Poet

Celebrated Indian poet and activist Varavara Rao is in mortal danger of succumbing to COVID-19 if he is not released from prison.

Varsha Gandikota-Nellutla

Arts in Society

The Prophet of the Far Right

Michel Houellebecq’s Islamophobia and chauvinism have made him a favorite intellectual of right extremists. So why does he appeal to so many on the left as well?

Martin Gelin

Arts in Society

Solidarity Through Poetry

When Celes Tisdale led poetry workshops at Attica State Prison, soon after the 1971 uprising, some of the prisoners were still recovering from gunshots. Their writings demonstrates the power of poetry to help oppressed people heal from trauma and organize their political thinking.

Mark Nowak

Arts in Society

Arts in the Time of Quarantine

A Special Project from Boston Review’s Arts in Society Program

Arts in Society

Emily Dickinson Escapes

Until recent decades, Dickinson was most often depicted as a sentimental spinster or reclusive eccentric. A new biography and TV show reveal instead a self-aware artist who created a life that defied the limits placed on women.

Lynne Feeley

Arts in Society

The Bird at the Window

Since 1970 North America has lost 29 percent of its bird population. New York City alone kills almost a quarter of a million birds each year. More than most people, poets have tried to respond to these unremarked—and mostly preventable—deaths.

Calista McRae

Arts in Society

Herman Melville the Poet

The author of Moby Dick is best known for his novels, but he devoted the second half of his life to writing poetry. What can a new Complete Poems teach us about his place in the canon of American letters?

Gillian Osborne