Joseph Bottum is the former editor of First Things.

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Southwell Institute

Our friend William Baer writes to remind us that it’s that time of year again: The St. Robert Southwell Institute is taking applications for this summer’s installment of its annual creative writing workshop. This year, it’s from June 1 to June 11 at the Carmel Retreat House in . . . . Continue Reading »

25 Jan 2008

RE: Bleg

Thanks to our emailers for all the help with a name for words formed from roots in different languages. “Hybrid word” was a common suggestion, though it seems more a description than a name. Macaronic turns out to be the word I was trying to come up with, though it seems technically to . . . . Continue Reading »

23 Jan 2008

Bleg

There’s a name that curmudgeonly grammarians give to words derived from more than one language—and for the life of me, I can’t think of it. Television is a famous example, a Greek prefix on a Latin stem. Uber-theocon is another, less-famous example, a epithet someone or other flung . . . . Continue Reading »

23 Jan 2008

Write Your Own Caption

“We regret to announce that due to unforeseen circumstances beyond our control, the publication of The Astrological Magazine will cease with the December 2007 issue.” (Hat tip: The Volokh Conspiracy .) . . . . Continue Reading »

18 Jan 2008

RE: Burning Books

I think your metaphor , of colorizing film or tearing down buildings, will not work for Nabokov’s unpublished, unfinished work , Anthony. Even your title of “burning books” doesn’t quite catch it, for the text from Nabokov isn’t yet a book. In other words, this . . . . Continue Reading »

17 Jan 2008

Forced Treatment

Over on the New York Times ’ City Room website , there’s an interesting story about a man who was forced to undergo a rectal examination back in 2003. Receiving a head injury at a Manhattan construction, he was taken to New York-Presbyterian Hospital and given eight stitches on his . . . . Continue Reading »

17 Jan 2008

The Rights of Victims?

Paul Cassell, a former Federal judge who resigned from the bench to become a pro bono lawyer and advocate for victims rights, is now blogging on the Volokh Conspiracy , a (more or less) libertarian law-professors blog that has some of the most interesting legal analysis on the web. Cassell’s . . . . Continue Reading »

16 Jan 2008

RE: Why Can’t We Both Be The Victim?

Yes, Ryan, you’re right that David Brooks’ column in the New York Times today was a fine one. I just wish that he had named Ward Connerly, not Ward Churchill, for his example of opponents to identity politics. Ward Connerly is the former regent for the University of California who . . . . Continue Reading »

15 Jan 2008

Anti-Semitism Wasn’t Getting Anywhere Until the Jews Got Behind It

The pseudonymous author Spengler , sends another note for posting on the First Things blog : “Anti-Semitism wasn’t getting anywhere until the Jews got behind it,” Paul Johnson quotes a nineteenth-century Viennese joke in his History of the Jews . New Left Review ‘s December . . . . Continue Reading »

14 Jan 2008

Bob Dylan’s Hard Rain

A friend runs an interesting website called “Right Wing Bob”—a never-ending discussion of Bob Dylan’s work by a political and theological conservative. He’s posted today an interview with me about the influence of Dylan’s music , which may interest some of our . . . . Continue Reading »

14 Jan 2008