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April 13, 2019

Writing the Twentieth Century

Poets, philosophers, and playwrights.

This week marks the deaths and births of some of the most important poets, playwrights, and philosophers of the twentieth century: Primo Levi (d. April 11, 1987), Samuel Beckett (b. April 13, 1906), Seamus Heaney (b. April 13, 1939), and Jean-Paul Sartre (April 15, 1980).

Their works chronicle events such as the Holocaust and Bloody Sunday; tackle dread about life’s absurdity; and sit at the apex in which modernism became post-. Our archive is full of essays about these important figures, but we are also lucky to feature some pieces written by them for Boston ReviewWe hope you enjoy!

Diego Gambetta
“On that tragic Saturday only his body was smashed.”
Roger Boylan

A lost story shows the young writer struggling in Joyce's shadow

Ronald Aronson

Jean-Paul Sartre’s existential Marxism offers a radical philosophical foundation for today’s revitalized critiques of capitalism.

Seamus Heaney

Seamus Heaney on the power of T.S. Eliot

Poetry
Primo Levi
A poem by Primo Levi
Roger Boylan

Remembering Beckett twenty years after his death.

Our weekly themed Reading Lists compile the best of Boston Review’s archive. Sign up for our newsletters to get them straight to your inbox before they appear online.

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Lewis Gordon and Nathalie Etoke discuss the space for freedom opened up by Black existentialist thought.

Nathalie Etoke, Lewis Gordon

The post-work movement reckons with reproductive labor.

Rachel Fraser

Melvin Rogers and Neil Roberts discuss the difficulty of keeping faith in a foundationally anti-Black republic.

Melvin Rogers, Neil Roberts

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Just in time for the holidays, get any three print issues of Boston Review for just $35 – that’s 40% off the cover price!

Before December 9, mix and match any three issues for one low price using code 3FOR35.

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