Women
Practicing Buddhism as a Feminist Christian
by Jolee Moffett on Friday, April 12, 2002 03:26 pmWives be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He the head of the church, He Himself being the savior of the body. But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.
The book Ephesians in the Christian bible makes it quite clear that women are subservient to men. Being a feminist I found this a little hard to swallow during my three years at The Master's College (a private Christian college). I found myself continually questioning things that seemed unfair or geared towards a different era and culture. I always felt awkward walking among women who agreed with the inequality in a male/female Christian relationship.
Once I stopped conforming to the conventional picture of femininity I finally started to enjoy being a woman. I realized that my dreams do not consist wholly of getting married and having children. Although many Asian cultures practice the traditional family roles, I found it quite inspiring that one of the seven main elements of Buddhism was Egalitarianism. Meaning, women are just as capable of enlightenment as men are. I believe that if we took Buddhism and put its elements into practice in today's society we would only be benefiting our children and ourselves.
Looking to Buddha and his teachings seemed odd to me as a white American female. I found it difficult to open my mind to eastern thought and I kept wanting to argue Buddha's logic with Christianity. However, once I sat down and finally began to really think about what he was saying, it all fell into place. It starts with following the Four Noble Truths:
1) All life is suffering (dukka)
2) Suffering is caused by desire (tanha)
3) Suffering can only cease if desire ceases
4) Follow the Eight-Fold Path
Overcoming dukka and tanha through the eight-fold path:
1) Right thought
2) Right conduct
3) Right speech
4) Right livelihood
5) Right effort
6) Right mindfulness
7) Right concentration
8) Right understanding
And using it as a map to direct our lives, we can only make things better for ourselves. "The 8-fold path can be grouped into 3 groups. The first is "Morality". The idea here is to live a life where one tries to constantly practice kindness and love, and to live life such that one's conscience is clear. That comes from our practice of Perfect Thougths, Perfect Actions, Perfect Speech and Perfect Livelihood. Basically, we live life to the best that we can.
The 2nd group is "Concentration". With a clear conscience cultivated with "morality", we cultivate our minds so that it'll be calm, peaceful and concentrated. This comes from our practice of Perfect Effort and Perfect Concentration.
The 3rd group is "Insight". With a very strong, calm, concentrated and peaceful mind, we learn to work with ourselves, to gain insight into ourselves, to eventually overcome all our problems and all the unsatisfactoriness in our lives. This comes from our practice of Perfect Mindfulness and Perfect Understanding. " (http://www.serve.com/cmtan/buddhism/fournt.html)
When I first looked at the eight-fold path I thought that it was practically impossible to carry out, however, many of the things on there are things that we do everyday anyway. Right conduct involves no stealing, no killing, no intoxicants, and no immoral sexual acts. Some of these may be very easy, and others extremely difficult. I believe that religion cannot all be done for you. There must be some sacrifice and work on the believers part or it is not actually pertaining to your life. How can you say you truly practice something if you aren't doing anything different?
Buddha asks us to focus on ourselves and have continuous self-examinations, and awareness, he asks us to act out of love and have a steady effort. He preaches self-discipline and no slander, which leads us to be kind to one another and ourselves. This is what I want for myself. This is what I want for my children: A society that doesn't long for genetic engineering but a society that continues to better itself through its actions toward one another. It starts with controlling our road rage and being nice to the person who cuts in line at the gas station. It starts with less "one night stands" and more meditation. It starts with what I need to work on not with something I find wrong with my neighbor.
It is possible to integrate this into our society. I believe it is. I believe by offering yoga classes and a class such as Asian thought at the local junior college is a pretty good start. Buddhism should not be dead to America, it should be offered as an alternative to our tired and overworked religions such as Catholicism or Christianity. We should delve in and seek to understand what has not been placed in front of us. We cannot simply accept one religion as truth when we have not studied or put into practice other religions.
I believe that as a woman and as an American we need to search for different views on society and do all that we can to better ourselves. If enlightenment is possible, then we should overcome our ignorance and strive to understand what holds us back.
********************************************************************************
UNIVERSAL PRAYER By SRI SWAMI SIVANANDA
O Adorable Lord of Mercy and Love !
Salutations and prostrations unto Thee.
Thou art Omnipresent, Omnipotent and Omniscient.
Thou art Existence-Consciousness-Bliss Absolute.
Thou art the Indweller of all beings.
Grant us an understanding heart,
Equal vision, balanced mind,
Faith, devotion and wisdom.
Grant us inner spiritual strength
To resist temptation and to control the mind.
Free us from egoism, lust, greed, hatred, anger and jealousy.
Fill our hearts with divine virtues.
Let us behold Thee in all these names and forms.
Let us serve Thee in all these names and forms.
Let us ever remember Thee.
Let us ever sing Thy glories.
Let Thy Name be ever on our lips.
Let us abide in Thee for ever and ever.
The book Ephesians in the Christian bible makes it quite clear that women are subservient to men. Being a feminist I found this a little hard to swallow during my three years at The Master's College (a private Christian college). I found myself continually questioning things that seemed unfair or geared towards a different era and culture. I always felt awkward walking among women who agreed with the inequality in a male/female Christian relationship.
Once I stopped conforming to the conventional picture of femininity I finally started to enjoy being a woman. I realized that my dreams do not consist wholly of getting married and having children. Although many Asian cultures practice the traditional family roles, I found it quite inspiring that one of the seven main elements of Buddhism was Egalitarianism. Meaning, women are just as capable of enlightenment as men are. I believe that if we took Buddhism and put its elements into practice in today's society we would only be benefiting our children and ourselves.
Looking to Buddha and his teachings seemed odd to me as a white American female. I found it difficult to open my mind to eastern thought and I kept wanting to argue Buddha's logic with Christianity. However, once I sat down and finally began to really think about what he was saying, it all fell into place. It starts with following the Four Noble Truths:
1) All life is suffering (dukka)
2) Suffering is caused by desire (tanha)
3) Suffering can only cease if desire ceases
4) Follow the Eight-Fold Path
Overcoming dukka and tanha through the eight-fold path:
1) Right thought
2) Right conduct
3) Right speech
4) Right livelihood
5) Right effort
6) Right mindfulness
7) Right concentration
8) Right understanding
And using it as a map to direct our lives, we can only make things better for ourselves. "The 8-fold path can be grouped into 3 groups. The first is "Morality". The idea here is to live a life where one tries to constantly practice kindness and love, and to live life such that one's conscience is clear. That comes from our practice of Perfect Thougths, Perfect Actions, Perfect Speech and Perfect Livelihood. Basically, we live life to the best that we can.
The 2nd group is "Concentration". With a clear conscience cultivated with "morality", we cultivate our minds so that it'll be calm, peaceful and concentrated. This comes from our practice of Perfect Effort and Perfect Concentration.
The 3rd group is "Insight". With a very strong, calm, concentrated and peaceful mind, we learn to work with ourselves, to gain insight into ourselves, to eventually overcome all our problems and all the unsatisfactoriness in our lives. This comes from our practice of Perfect Mindfulness and Perfect Understanding. " (http://www.serve.com/cmtan/buddhism/fournt.html)
When I first looked at the eight-fold path I thought that it was practically impossible to carry out, however, many of the things on there are things that we do everyday anyway. Right conduct involves no stealing, no killing, no intoxicants, and no immoral sexual acts. Some of these may be very easy, and others extremely difficult. I believe that religion cannot all be done for you. There must be some sacrifice and work on the believers part or it is not actually pertaining to your life. How can you say you truly practice something if you aren't doing anything different?
Buddha asks us to focus on ourselves and have continuous self-examinations, and awareness, he asks us to act out of love and have a steady effort. He preaches self-discipline and no slander, which leads us to be kind to one another and ourselves. This is what I want for myself. This is what I want for my children: A society that doesn't long for genetic engineering but a society that continues to better itself through its actions toward one another. It starts with controlling our road rage and being nice to the person who cuts in line at the gas station. It starts with less "one night stands" and more meditation. It starts with what I need to work on not with something I find wrong with my neighbor.
It is possible to integrate this into our society. I believe it is. I believe by offering yoga classes and a class such as Asian thought at the local junior college is a pretty good start. Buddhism should not be dead to America, it should be offered as an alternative to our tired and overworked religions such as Catholicism or Christianity. We should delve in and seek to understand what has not been placed in front of us. We cannot simply accept one religion as truth when we have not studied or put into practice other religions.
I believe that as a woman and as an American we need to search for different views on society and do all that we can to better ourselves. If enlightenment is possible, then we should overcome our ignorance and strive to understand what holds us back.
********************************************************************************
UNIVERSAL PRAYER By SRI SWAMI SIVANANDA
O Adorable Lord of Mercy and Love !
Salutations and prostrations unto Thee.
Thou art Omnipresent, Omnipotent and Omniscient.
Thou art Existence-Consciousness-Bliss Absolute.
Thou art the Indweller of all beings.
Grant us an understanding heart,
Equal vision, balanced mind,
Faith, devotion and wisdom.
Grant us inner spiritual strength
To resist temptation and to control the mind.
Free us from egoism, lust, greed, hatred, anger and jealousy.
Fill our hearts with divine virtues.
Let us behold Thee in all these names and forms.
Let us serve Thee in all these names and forms.
Let us ever remember Thee.
Let us ever sing Thy glories.
Let Thy Name be ever on our lips.
Let us abide in Thee for ever and ever.
Zora Neale Hurston
by eggnoize on Tuesday, February 19, 2002 10:51 pmWriting about Zora Neale Hurston is a bit of a challenge. She began publishing her short stories in periodicals during the Harlem Renaissance, but didn't publish her major novels until the 1930's. Her age varied according to what she felt like saying at the time. She was bold and outspoken at a time when it wasn't considered proper, particularly for a woman, and even more so for an African-American woman. In general she was fiercely independent, and didn't feel obligated to live by anyone's standards or give information about herself that she didn't feel like giving.
According to Hurston she was born on January 7th, 1901 in Eatonville, Florida, but researchers have found her actual birth to have been in 1891, in Notasulga, Alabama. She did move to Eatonville at a very early age however, where her father became a minister and later on the mayor. Eatonville was an all black incorporated town, and inspired the setting for her first novel, "Jonah's Gourd Vine" (1934). At an early age Zora's mother died, and Zora felt she had failed her mother by not successfully completing her last request, which was to not allow a certain folk custom to take place at her death bed. When Hurston's father remarried, Zora took an immediate dislking to her new stepmother, and began to travel with a theatre company. She moved to Baltimore afterwards to finish high school, and then began to attend college, where her first short story was published. In 1925 she published in Opportunity magazine, and decided to move to Harlem upon encouragement from Harlem Renaissance figureheads such as Alain Locke and Langston Hughes.
It was during this time that she began to study Anthropology, specializing in folk customs and folklore. She traveled through the South collecting information and stories from the people who lived there, which provided the basis for not only her fictional works, but for Anthropological writings such as "Mules and Men" (1935), and "Tell My Horse" (1938).
Before her first novel was published, Zora Neale Hurston co-wrote a play with Langston Hughes, until she allegedly grew tired of his attempts to steal all the credit and dominate the play. The publication of "Jonah's Gourd Vine" revealed the truly unique style of Hurston: the beautifully musical-poetic style, the use of southern vernacular, and the depiction of southern rural life (and it's folk customs) all came into play in this novel. She elaborated in this style for her most popular novel, "Their Eyes Were Watching God" (1937), which has since become a classic and required reading for many High School English classes, and Women's Literature classes as well. It tells the story of a woman and her coming of age in the somewhat oppressive rural America. Two fictional works followed, including "Moses, Man of the Mountain" (1939) in which the Old Testament was brought to life in the American south, and "Seraph in the Suwanee" (1948).
Aside from these, Hurston published an autobiography called "Dust Tracks on a Road" (1942). By the time of Hurston's death in 1960, her fame had sunk into obscurity. She was working as a maid, and hadn't published since 1948. It would be 14 years until her rediscovery, which was aided by an essay written by up-and-coming writer Alice Walker, called "In Search of Zora Neale Hurston". Her play with Langston Hughes, "Mules and Men", was finally published in 1991.
Hurston has always been the subject of much criticism. She was criticized as not being political enough by Richard Wright, and she has been criticized for not having any good male characters in her books. She wrote about life as she saw it, and was adament about not portraying African-Americans stereotypically or in the fashion accepted by white people at the time. It is perhaps because of her honesty and the beauty of her writings that she has made this resurgence in modern literary studies.
According to Hurston she was born on January 7th, 1901 in Eatonville, Florida, but researchers have found her actual birth to have been in 1891, in Notasulga, Alabama. She did move to Eatonville at a very early age however, where her father became a minister and later on the mayor. Eatonville was an all black incorporated town, and inspired the setting for her first novel, "Jonah's Gourd Vine" (1934). At an early age Zora's mother died, and Zora felt she had failed her mother by not successfully completing her last request, which was to not allow a certain folk custom to take place at her death bed. When Hurston's father remarried, Zora took an immediate dislking to her new stepmother, and began to travel with a theatre company. She moved to Baltimore afterwards to finish high school, and then began to attend college, where her first short story was published. In 1925 she published in Opportunity magazine, and decided to move to Harlem upon encouragement from Harlem Renaissance figureheads such as Alain Locke and Langston Hughes.
It was during this time that she began to study Anthropology, specializing in folk customs and folklore. She traveled through the South collecting information and stories from the people who lived there, which provided the basis for not only her fictional works, but for Anthropological writings such as "Mules and Men" (1935), and "Tell My Horse" (1938).
Before her first novel was published, Zora Neale Hurston co-wrote a play with Langston Hughes, until she allegedly grew tired of his attempts to steal all the credit and dominate the play. The publication of "Jonah's Gourd Vine" revealed the truly unique style of Hurston: the beautifully musical-poetic style, the use of southern vernacular, and the depiction of southern rural life (and it's folk customs) all came into play in this novel. She elaborated in this style for her most popular novel, "Their Eyes Were Watching God" (1937), which has since become a classic and required reading for many High School English classes, and Women's Literature classes as well. It tells the story of a woman and her coming of age in the somewhat oppressive rural America. Two fictional works followed, including "Moses, Man of the Mountain" (1939) in which the Old Testament was brought to life in the American south, and "Seraph in the Suwanee" (1948).
Aside from these, Hurston published an autobiography called "Dust Tracks on a Road" (1942). By the time of Hurston's death in 1960, her fame had sunk into obscurity. She was working as a maid, and hadn't published since 1948. It would be 14 years until her rediscovery, which was aided by an essay written by up-and-coming writer Alice Walker, called "In Search of Zora Neale Hurston". Her play with Langston Hughes, "Mules and Men", was finally published in 1991.
Hurston has always been the subject of much criticism. She was criticized as not being political enough by Richard Wright, and she has been criticized for not having any good male characters in her books. She wrote about life as she saw it, and was adament about not portraying African-Americans stereotypically or in the fashion accepted by white people at the time. It is perhaps because of her honesty and the beauty of her writings that she has made this resurgence in modern literary studies.
The Youth and Death of Mira Lohvitskaya
by Alex Malina on Friday, January 11, 2002 11:30 pmMira Lohvitskaya (1869 - 1905) was unfortunately overshadowed by the great number of other Russian female poets of the twentieth century even though in the beginning of the last century her poetry was considered among the best in the genre of "female poetry". The critics nicknamed her "the Russian Sappho" for in all her poems there seems to be one prevalent theme - the theme of love. Her poems bring to life that ancient human feeling as old as the world itself:
I love you with greater passion then the fires of the setting sun;
Clearer then the mist and gentler then the most sacred of words;
A blinding arrow, cutting the clouds in the gloom;
No, I love you more then is possible to love on this earth.
Her poetry shines with a deep passion - where it seems she is willing to sacrifice her whole being for the pure enlightenment of love. And her confessions reveal a pure belief in her "sinful love". Love plays over and over in her poetry - but does not tire itself out. One does not see Mira as she is - instead there appears a young beautiful woman, with long dark hair and eyes of a gypsy - and with her gracious lips she begins reciting her poetry, which like smoke fly to the heavens.
Born in 1869 to a distinguished family (her sister was a poet) she was most definitely influenced by the Romantic poets that came before her. At the end of the nineteenth century "pure lyricism" was not looked upon so kindly by the public, and poets more often performed in small circles of art lovers among friends and fellow poets then actually publishing their poems in periodicals. Lohvitskaya fit perfectly into these circles of young intellectuals. Her respectability as a poet was overshadowed by many scandals with other poets. Breathing with spiritual longing some poems were designed primarily to be confessional and extremely shocking to the nineteenth century ear:
The lust of poisonous pleasure
in darkness of unlit candles
relief half-enlightening and half-worried
from sighs and moans within the nights
In her youth she expressed that she wished to die young. She wished to go like one of the gods of Russian poetry like Pushkin, like Lermontov. She wanted to disappear like an artist seeing her doom - disappearing into the storm of life. To her the idea to die young - still beautiful, still gleaming with life, - to die not finishing, not completing, not growing to full wisdom - and (most importantly) to die in love - was tragically romantic.
. . . I want to die young!
Bury me to the side,
away from the tired, busy, roads,
where the willow bends to the waves,
where yellows the uneven, uncut gorse.
So the slumberous apples would bloom,
so the wind would breathe over me,
with aroma of a far away world . . .
She was married and had five children. And at the age of thirty-six she died from tuberculosis. Upon her death Bryusov, the Russian Symbolist, wrote: "For the future anthologies of Russian poetry there should be included at least 10 to 15 poems by Lohvitskaya. . . . the attentive reader will always be worried and fascinated by the inner drama of her soul which remains immortal in her poems."
SELECTED POEMS
Elegy
I wish to die in Spring
when the happiness of May returns
and when before me the whole world
is once again a sweet perfume
With a bright smile I will glance down
on all that I love in my life -
my death I'll bless before my eyes
and then call it wonderful.
5 March 1893
Don't kill the pigeons!
Their feathers white as snow,
their coo so gently
heard in gloom of worldly grief.
Where it is all - restless and bleak.
Don't kill the pigeons!
Don't tear out the cornflower!
Don't be jealous or filled with greed.
The fields will give your their own seed,
and there'll be always room for graves.
We don't live off of just one bread '
Don't tear out the cornflower!
Do not reject beauty!
It is immortal without smoke,
What glory is your poetry,
your hymns, and flowers?
A genius without it is powerless . . .
Do not reject beauty.
1903
I want to die young,
Not in love, not saddened of no one.
To go down as a bright golden star,
fly apart like a still living flower.
And I want on my rock,
exhausted by long hostility,
people to find perfect bliss . . .
I want to die young!
Bury me to the side,
away from the tired, busy, roads,
where the willow bends to the waves,
where yellows the uneven, uncut gorse.
So the slumberous apples would bloom,
so the wind would breathe over me,
with aroma of a far away world . . .
I want to die young!
I'm not looking at the traveled path,
at the stupidity of wasted years,
I can die completely carefree,
if to finish singing my hymn.
Let the fire not spark to the end,
And in memory there'll be one
that in life awakened the heart . . .
I want to die young!
1904
I love you with greater passion then the fires of the setting sun;
Clearer then the mist and gentler then the most sacred of words;
A blinding arrow, cutting the clouds in the gloom;
No, I love you more then is possible to love on this earth.
Her poetry shines with a deep passion - where it seems she is willing to sacrifice her whole being for the pure enlightenment of love. And her confessions reveal a pure belief in her "sinful love". Love plays over and over in her poetry - but does not tire itself out. One does not see Mira as she is - instead there appears a young beautiful woman, with long dark hair and eyes of a gypsy - and with her gracious lips she begins reciting her poetry, which like smoke fly to the heavens.
Born in 1869 to a distinguished family (her sister was a poet) she was most definitely influenced by the Romantic poets that came before her. At the end of the nineteenth century "pure lyricism" was not looked upon so kindly by the public, and poets more often performed in small circles of art lovers among friends and fellow poets then actually publishing their poems in periodicals. Lohvitskaya fit perfectly into these circles of young intellectuals. Her respectability as a poet was overshadowed by many scandals with other poets. Breathing with spiritual longing some poems were designed primarily to be confessional and extremely shocking to the nineteenth century ear:
The lust of poisonous pleasure
in darkness of unlit candles
relief half-enlightening and half-worried
from sighs and moans within the nights
In her youth she expressed that she wished to die young. She wished to go like one of the gods of Russian poetry like Pushkin, like Lermontov. She wanted to disappear like an artist seeing her doom - disappearing into the storm of life. To her the idea to die young - still beautiful, still gleaming with life, - to die not finishing, not completing, not growing to full wisdom - and (most importantly) to die in love - was tragically romantic.
. . . I want to die young!
Bury me to the side,
away from the tired, busy, roads,
where the willow bends to the waves,
where yellows the uneven, uncut gorse.
So the slumberous apples would bloom,
so the wind would breathe over me,
with aroma of a far away world . . .
She was married and had five children. And at the age of thirty-six she died from tuberculosis. Upon her death Bryusov, the Russian Symbolist, wrote: "For the future anthologies of Russian poetry there should be included at least 10 to 15 poems by Lohvitskaya. . . . the attentive reader will always be worried and fascinated by the inner drama of her soul which remains immortal in her poems."
SELECTED POEMS
Elegy
I wish to die in Spring
when the happiness of May returns
and when before me the whole world
is once again a sweet perfume
With a bright smile I will glance down
on all that I love in my life -
my death I'll bless before my eyes
and then call it wonderful.
5 March 1893
Don't kill the pigeons!
Their feathers white as snow,
their coo so gently
heard in gloom of worldly grief.
Where it is all - restless and bleak.
Don't kill the pigeons!
Don't tear out the cornflower!
Don't be jealous or filled with greed.
The fields will give your their own seed,
and there'll be always room for graves.
We don't live off of just one bread '
Don't tear out the cornflower!
Do not reject beauty!
It is immortal without smoke,
What glory is your poetry,
your hymns, and flowers?
A genius without it is powerless . . .
Do not reject beauty.
1903
I want to die young,
Not in love, not saddened of no one.
To go down as a bright golden star,
fly apart like a still living flower.
And I want on my rock,
exhausted by long hostility,
people to find perfect bliss . . .
I want to die young!
Bury me to the side,
away from the tired, busy, roads,
where the willow bends to the waves,
where yellows the uneven, uncut gorse.
So the slumberous apples would bloom,
so the wind would breathe over me,
with aroma of a far away world . . .
I want to die young!
I'm not looking at the traveled path,
at the stupidity of wasted years,
I can die completely carefree,
if to finish singing my hymn.
Let the fire not spark to the end,
And in memory there'll be one
that in life awakened the heart . . .
I want to die young!
1904
Louisa May Alcott
by Jessica Parrett on Monday, August 13, 2001 12:08 pmThe second daughter of renowned education reformer Bronson Alcott, Louisa May Alcott was born on November 29, 1832 in Germantown, Pennsylvania, where her father was working as a teacher.
The family would soon settle in Concord, Massachusetts, where the young girl would be exposed to the brilliant company of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Margaret Fuller, Nathaniel Hawthorne and the rest of the Transcendentalist crowd.
The Transcendentalists taught that each person must find their own peculiar way to contribute to the world, and Louisa May found her way as a writer of popular fiction that was both wholesome and realistic. She wrote poetry and stories for Atlantic Monthly (then a relatively new New England periodical) and other magazines. She worked as a nurse in the civil war and wrote about the experience in "Hospital Sketches", published in the journal "Commonwealth". Her first book was called "Flower Fables", followed by a novel called "Moods", and then by her most popular book, "Little Women".
"Little Women" and "Little Men" were her best known works, but she wrote many more books, stories, poems and essays. She captured the experience of living in the commune her father had founded, Fruitlands, in a fondly satirical book called "Transcendental Wild Oats".
Louisa May Alcott suffered from various ailments and physical difficulties throughout her life. She died on March 6, 1888, only two days after the death of her father.
The Louisa May Alcott website is run by the organization that maintains the Orchard House, the Alcott homestead that is now open to visitors in Concord.
The family would soon settle in Concord, Massachusetts, where the young girl would be exposed to the brilliant company of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Margaret Fuller, Nathaniel Hawthorne and the rest of the Transcendentalist crowd.
The Transcendentalists taught that each person must find their own peculiar way to contribute to the world, and Louisa May found her way as a writer of popular fiction that was both wholesome and realistic. She wrote poetry and stories for Atlantic Monthly (then a relatively new New England periodical) and other magazines. She worked as a nurse in the civil war and wrote about the experience in "Hospital Sketches", published in the journal "Commonwealth". Her first book was called "Flower Fables", followed by a novel called "Moods", and then by her most popular book, "Little Women".
"Little Women" and "Little Men" were her best known works, but she wrote many more books, stories, poems and essays. She captured the experience of living in the commune her father had founded, Fruitlands, in a fondly satirical book called "Transcendental Wild Oats".
Louisa May Alcott suffered from various ailments and physical difficulties throughout her life. She died on March 6, 1888, only two days after the death of her father.
The Louisa May Alcott website is run by the organization that maintains the Orchard House, the Alcott homestead that is now open to visitors in Concord.
Margaret Fuller
by Jessica Parrett on Thursday, April 26, 2001 07:05 pmSarah Margaret Fuller was born in Cambridgeport, Massachusetts on May 23, 1810. Her intellectual journeys began with a rigorous education conducted by her father, a lawyer named Timothy Fuller. She had tremendous enthusiasm for classical learning, and fought for admittance to the male-only Harvard Library.
She corresponded with many of the top writers and academics of her time, and became especially smitten with the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, who she sought out and eventually became close friends with. She was one of the core members of the circle of spiritual-minded Concord intellectuals that became known as the Transcendentalists, along with the educator Bronson Alcott, who hired her as a teacher at his progressive Temple School.
Fuller's activities included conducting a series of public "conversations" on lofty philosophical subjects with other women, which generated much attention in these pre-liberated years. These sessions violated a law against organized speaking events for women, which seemed only to have increased their appeal (nobody was ever arrested). Fuller worked closely with Emerson in founding "The Dial", the flagship publication of the Transcendentalist movement, in 1840.
She wrote book reviews for Horace Greeley's Herald Tribune, and used this platform to promote American literature at a time when Europe completely dominated the literary scene. She published several books, including the proto-feminist classic "Woman in the Nineteenth Century."
The first several decades of Margaret Fuller's life were lived in the lofty realm of words and philosophy. This changed in 1847 when she fell in love with the noble-born Italian revolutionary Giovanni Angelo d'Ossoli. She became pregnant, gave birth to a son, and married d'Ossoli, who participated in the wave of violent revolutions that swept through Europe in 1848. Her husband was a Marchese, or "Marquis", and so Margaret Fuller was now a Marchioness, though this may not have mattered much during these stormy years of political change. They remained in Rome until it fell to the French in May 1850, and then boarded a ship bound for America.
Their most primal and horrible moment awaited them. The ship floundered and was wrecked off the Long Island coast during a hurricane on July 19, 1950. A member of the crew tried to swim for safety with their three-year-old son and failed to reach shore. Both Margaret and her new husband were drowned in the wreck.
Henry David Thoreau rushed to the Fire Island beach and saw the wrecked ship where his friend had died. He tried to salvage her last manuscript but was unable to do so.
There is a Margaret Fuller Society, complete with by-laws, newsletter, and listserv, hosted at Texas A&M University.
She corresponded with many of the top writers and academics of her time, and became especially smitten with the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, who she sought out and eventually became close friends with. She was one of the core members of the circle of spiritual-minded Concord intellectuals that became known as the Transcendentalists, along with the educator Bronson Alcott, who hired her as a teacher at his progressive Temple School.
Fuller's activities included conducting a series of public "conversations" on lofty philosophical subjects with other women, which generated much attention in these pre-liberated years. These sessions violated a law against organized speaking events for women, which seemed only to have increased their appeal (nobody was ever arrested). Fuller worked closely with Emerson in founding "The Dial", the flagship publication of the Transcendentalist movement, in 1840.
She wrote book reviews for Horace Greeley's Herald Tribune, and used this platform to promote American literature at a time when Europe completely dominated the literary scene. She published several books, including the proto-feminist classic "Woman in the Nineteenth Century."
The first several decades of Margaret Fuller's life were lived in the lofty realm of words and philosophy. This changed in 1847 when she fell in love with the noble-born Italian revolutionary Giovanni Angelo d'Ossoli. She became pregnant, gave birth to a son, and married d'Ossoli, who participated in the wave of violent revolutions that swept through Europe in 1848. Her husband was a Marchese, or "Marquis", and so Margaret Fuller was now a Marchioness, though this may not have mattered much during these stormy years of political change. They remained in Rome until it fell to the French in May 1850, and then boarded a ship bound for America.
Their most primal and horrible moment awaited them. The ship floundered and was wrecked off the Long Island coast during a hurricane on July 19, 1950. A member of the crew tried to swim for safety with their three-year-old son and failed to reach shore. Both Margaret and her new husband were drowned in the wreck.
Henry David Thoreau rushed to the Fire Island beach and saw the wrecked ship where his friend had died. He tried to salvage her last manuscript but was unable to do so.
There is a Margaret Fuller Society, complete with by-laws, newsletter, and listserv, hosted at Texas A&M University.
Anne Spencer
by eggnoize on Wednesday, April 4, 2001 10:40 amBorn on February 6th, 1882, Anne Spencer had to witness the breakup of her parents at age 5, and attended an all white school until 1893. She was then transferred to a boarding school, where she began writing. After graduating at the top of her class she married Edward Spencer.
Anne Spencer was on of the few women writers associated with the Harlem Renaissance, or at least one of the few to be published. She did not actually live in Harlem, but rather lived with her husband in Lynchburg, Virginia. Her home came to be a sort of resting point for travelers such as Langston Hughes, W.E.B. DuBois, and James Weldon Johnson. Johnson went on to publish five of her poems in his 1922 anthology, "The Book of American Negro Poetry". He was also one of the biggest influences on her life, encouraging her to seek publication of her work.
Anne Spencer was not one to accept social roles quietly. She had a reputation for standing up to those who tried to infringe upon the rights of African-Americans. She applied for a job at an all-white library in 1923, and got the job by demonstrating her deep knowledge of literature. She kept the job for 22 years.
When she married and moved with her husband in 1901, he built her a magnificent garden with a cottage where she could be alone with her thoughts and writer her poems. Her garden was her hideaway and sanctuary, her place for learning and writing. After her husband died in 1964, the garden began to die, and Anne spent little of her time there. She herself died in 1975, and most of her poems were finally published 2 years later. The following poem is a beautiful example of Spencer's work.
"God never planted a garden,
But he placed a keeper there;
And the keeper ever razed the ground,
And built a city where;
God cannot walk at the eve of day,
Nor take the morning air."
Anne Spencer was on of the few women writers associated with the Harlem Renaissance, or at least one of the few to be published. She did not actually live in Harlem, but rather lived with her husband in Lynchburg, Virginia. Her home came to be a sort of resting point for travelers such as Langston Hughes, W.E.B. DuBois, and James Weldon Johnson. Johnson went on to publish five of her poems in his 1922 anthology, "The Book of American Negro Poetry". He was also one of the biggest influences on her life, encouraging her to seek publication of her work.
Anne Spencer was not one to accept social roles quietly. She had a reputation for standing up to those who tried to infringe upon the rights of African-Americans. She applied for a job at an all-white library in 1923, and got the job by demonstrating her deep knowledge of literature. She kept the job for 22 years.
When she married and moved with her husband in 1901, he built her a magnificent garden with a cottage where she could be alone with her thoughts and writer her poems. Her garden was her hideaway and sanctuary, her place for learning and writing. After her husband died in 1964, the garden began to die, and Anne spent little of her time there. She herself died in 1975, and most of her poems were finally published 2 years later. The following poem is a beautiful example of Spencer's work.
"God never planted a garden,
But he placed a keeper there;
And the keeper ever razed the ground,
And built a city where;
God cannot walk at the eve of day,
Nor take the morning air."
Beat News: April 11 1998
by Levi Asher on Sunday, April 12, 1998 01:46 am
1. Good news: Diane DiPrima is back in the spotlight! She's kept a low profile for as long as I've known her name, and I've wondered if I'd ever have a chance to hear her do a reading in person. I still haven't caught her myself, but I've heard glowing reports from a poetry reading in Camden, N.J., and I was sorry to hear that I missed an appearance at the St. Mark's Church Poetry Project here in New York. I hope she'll be back soon ...2. Why are literary mailing lists on the internet so conducive to flame wars? Not long ago a virulent flare-up on the PYNCHON-L, involving a few list members who'd personally known Thomas Pynchon fighting against each other and the rest of the list, was actually collected and published as a book called 'Lineland'. A couple of weeks ago, an epic flame war on the BEAT-L mailing list, which I enjoyed being a part of for the past three years, caused listowner Bill Gargan to finally throw up his hands in disgust and close the list down for good. You can read more about the whole mess here. I was very sorry to see this excellent (if sometimes ridiculous) list go away, and I was happy when list survivors Diane Carter and Luke Kelly (proprietor of the William S. Burroughs-oriented website Big Table) managed to create a new replacement list, SUBTERRANEANS, in record time. If you're interested in reading about or joining this list, here's a FAQ that explains everything. The good news is that flame wars are banned on this list; the bad news is that in order to post to it it is necessary to know how to spell "subterraneans".
3. There's going to be a big memorial bash for Allen Ginsberg on June 12 and 13, arranged by the irrepressible scene-maker/muck-raker Al Aronowitz. The first event is on June 12 at the Central Park Bandshell in New York City, and is expected to feature Amiri Baraka, Richie Havens, David Amram, Anne Waldman, Rick Danko and Pete Seeger. The second event is at the Performing Arts Center in Newark, New Jersey (where Ginsberg was born) on June 13. This has been in the planning stages for a long time, and until recently nobody was sure if Aronowitz was actually going to pull the event off. At this point it's starting to generate some real buzz, and may even turn out to be something special. Another Ginsberg memorial event at the Cathedral of St. John The Divine in upper Manhattan on May 14 should also be good, and is guaranteed to bring out only the Beat faithful, since everybody else will be home watching the final episode of 'Seinfeld'.
Beat News: December 30 1997
by Levi Asher on Tuesday, December 30, 1997 07:13 pmI'm really sorry about the way Beat News is turning into an obituary page lately, but I have to report that poet Denise Levertov has died. Born in England in 1923, she was introduced by San Francisco's literary ringleader Kenneth Rexroth to the Beat crowd that emerged there in the late 50's. She also became an integral part of the Black Mountain poetry crowd, along with Robert Creeley, Charles Olson, etc.The book 'Women of the Beat Generation' has some good material on her, especially an account of her confrontation with sexism in San Francisco's poetry crowd in 1957. Anyway ... when it rains it pours, but I'd like to mandate that no more legendary Beat or otherwise worthy counter-cultural figures shall die in the next couple of years. I plan to spend 1998 writing about lots of great new creative literary activities, and *not* looking back. Happy New Year everybody!
Jane Bowles
by Meg Wise-Lawrence on Tuesday, October 1, 1996 01:40 pm
The farther a man follows the rainbow, the harder it is for him to get back to the life which he left starving like an old dog. Sometimes when a man gets older he has a revelation and wants awfully bad to get back to the place where he left his life, but he can't get back to that place-- not often. It's always better to stay alongside of your life.
--Jane Bowles 'Plain Pleasures'
Jane Auer was born in New York City on February 22, 1917 and raised mostly on Long Island. At twenty-one, she married Manhattanite Paul Bowles. After the civil ceremony, they took off for Panama. According to Paul Bowles' autobiography Without Stopping, Jane Bowles saw enough in Panama in ten days to enable her to use it as a locale for her first novel, 'Two Serious Ladies', which was published in 1943. From 1947, she lived abroad, mostly in Tangier, with her husband.
Jan Kerouac
by Levi Asher on Friday, April 28, 1995 09:30 pm
Janet Michelle Kerouac is universally recognized as Jack Kerouac's daughter, but when she was born to his second wife, Joan Haverty, on February 16, 1952 in Albany, New York, he refused to accept this fact. His short marriage to Joan was already over by this time, and Jan would see her father very few times. The sad story of their last meeting was told by Jan in her own first book, "Baby Driver," which takes its title from a Paul Simon song.
Jan also wrote a second book, "Train Song." But her promising literary career did not survive a ruinous bout with kidney disease, aggravated by years of rough living. She spent the last few years of her life involved in an ugly and bitter battle with the family of Stella Sampas, Kerouac's third and last wife, over the disposition and control of Jack's estate. She died in the midst of this battle, on June 7, 1996 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Her third novel, "Parrot Fever", was published after her death, after being excerpted on LitKicks.
