Infinite Variety

Infinite Variety

Literary Invention, Theology, and the Disorder of Kinds, 1688-1730

Unnerved by the upheavals of the seventeenth century, English writers including Thomas Hobbes, Richard Blackmore, John Locke, Jonathan Swift, and Daniel Defoe came to accept that disorder, rather than order, was the natural state of things. They were drawn to voluntarism, a theology that emphasized a willful creator and denied that nature embodied truth and […]
‘The Outwin: American Portraiture Today’

‘The Outwin: American Portraiture Today’

Immigration, the fight for social justice, the lives of vulnerable populations. In “The Outwin: American Portraiture Today.” 45 contemporary artists — selected by jury from more than 2,600 entries — explore a wide range of artistic approaches while responding to current social and political contexts. Organized by the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, the exhibition is on view this fall at WashU’s Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum.
Best Men

Best Men

David Schuman directs the MFA program and coordinates the creative writing concentration for undergraduate English majors. Schuman’s fiction, nonfiction and reviews have appeared in Catapult, Joyland, Missouri Review, Carolina Quarterly, Conjunctions, Black Warrior Review, The Rumpus and many other publications. He has been awarded a Pushcart Prize and his story, “Stay,” was listed as a distinguished story in Best American […]
Infrastructural Optimism

Infrastructural Optimism

“Infrastructural Optimism” investigates a new kind of twenty-first-century infrastructure, one that encourages a broader understanding of the interdependence of resources and agencies, recognizes a rightfully accelerated need for equitable access and distribution, and prioritizes rising environmental diligence across the design disciplines. Bringing together urban history, case studies, and speculative design propositions, the book explores and defines […]
Purgatorio

Purgatorio

“Bang’s sparkling 21st-century adaptation of Dante’s lesser-read masterpiece packs in rewarding surprises at every turn.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review If I had, Reader, a longer interval in which to write,I would, at least as a parting shot, singOf the sweet drink that never would’ve satisfied me, But the cards of the second canticle have all beenSpread […]
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