English & Literature
Here we'll feature classic and working-class literature--and Marxist critiques of both. We'll also encourage new writers and poets with creative writing workshops, reviews and other projects and forums
Who was Dashiell Hammett? One-Hour Video Discussion of the Maltese Falcon
DukeReads: Michael Malone on Dashiell Hammett's 'The Maltese Falcon'
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Class Dismissed: How TV Frames the Working Class
One-hour documentary featuring interviews with Stanley Aronowitz, (City University of New York); Nickel and Dimed author, Barbara Ehrenreich; Herman Gray (University of California-Santa Cruz); Robin Kelley (Columbia University); Pepi Leistyna (University of Massachusetts-Boston) and Michael Zweig (State University of New York-Stony Brook). Also with Arlene Davila, Susan Douglas, Bambi Haggins, Lisa Henderson, and Andrea Press
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Eight Tragedies of Shakespeare: A Marxist Study
Book Study: In this companion volume to Shakespeare: Poet and Citizen Kiernan sets out to rescue Shakespearean studies from the increasingly solipsistic terrain of literary criticism, focusing instead on historical location as a means to understanding Shakespeare's writing.
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The Lennie Moss Mysteries: Tales of a Modern Working-Class Hero
Tim Sheard's hero is a union shop steward as a moderm Ms. Marple. The author provides realistic details of hospital routine and budget-cutting politics. Other bonuses are polished prose and elements of warmth and humor. Strongly recommended for most mystery collections.
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The Adventure of English Eight 50-minute video episodes covering the birth of the English language as a hybrid to its globalization
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Maya Angelou on Life and Literature
50-minute interview in five parts. Armstrong Williams interviews writer and poet Maya Angelou. Maya Angelou is considered to be one of the greatest voices of contemporary literature. Armstrong Williams gives and in depth interview of the life of Maya Angelou. Maya Angelou talks about what is was like growing up. You will be surprised at the shocking trials Maya Angelou had when she was younger. Maya Angelou gives great insight on how she became the Maya Angelou of a contemporary renaissance.
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--MORE--
Shakespeare for Today: War and Leadership in Henry V. Four PBS videos with a teaching and study guide for introducing the Bard to the youth of today.
Arundhati Roy - Come September Speech on Writers and Writing
In this acclaimed Lannan foundation lecture from September 2002, Roy speaks poetically to power on the US' War on Terror, globalization, the misuses of nationalism, Americans and anti-americanism, and the growing chasm between the rich and poor. With lyricism and passion, Roy combines her literary talents and encyclopedic knowledge to expose injustice and provide hope for a future world.
The Story of Black English:
10 minute video from the PBS Series, 'The Story of English.'
The Working Class Beats: a Marxist analysis of Beat Writing and Culture from the Fifties to the Seventies. Paul Whiston, Sheffield University, United Kingdom
50 Sci-Fi & Fantasy Works Every Socialist Should Read
Reposted from Fantastic Metropolis by author China Mieville: "This is not a list of the “best” fantasy or SF. There are huge numbers of superb works not on the list. Those below are chosen not just because of their quality—which though mostly good, is variable—but because the politics they embed (deliberately or not) are of particular interest to socialists. Of course, other works—by the same or other writers—could have been chosen: disagreement and alternative suggestions are welcomed. I change my own mind hour to hour on this anyway..." ALSO: 'Reds in Space', a listing of radical sci-fi in a North Star post.
