First Things RSS Feed - Micah Mattix https://www.firstthings.com/author/micah-mattix en-us Copyright 2025 First Things. All Rights Reserved. ft@firstthings.com (The Editors) ft@firstthings.com (The Editors) Mon, 20 Jan 2025 16:54:25 -0500 https://d2201k5v4hmrsv.cloudfront.net/img/favicon-196.png First Things RSS Feed Image https://www.firstthings.com/rss/author/micah-mattix 60 Winners of the Inaugural First Things Poetry Prize https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2024/08/winners-of-the-inaugural-first-things-poetry-prize https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2024/08/winners-of-the-inaugural-first-things-poetry-prize Mon, 19 Aug 2024 06:00:00 -0400 We are pleased to announce that the winner of the inaugural First Things Poetry Prize is Josiah A. R. Cox for his poem “Two Owls.” Amit Majmudar, one of the judges for this competition, called it a “sonically and symbolically” rich poem that investigates both “predatory sight and visionary insight” in the figure of owls at night.

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]]> Introducing the First Things Poetry Prize https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2024/06/introducing-the-first-things-poetry-prize https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2024/06/introducing-the-first-things-poetry-prize Tue, 11 Jun 2024 10:05:00 -0400 Perhaps you have heard: First Things has started a poetry prize. You can read about the submission requirements here . We will select two winning poems for publication and award the poets with a cash prize, thanks to a generous gift from the Tim & Judy Rudderow Foundation. We are thrilled to have Amit Majmudar serve as the prize’s inaugural outside judge.

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]]> Fight with Style https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2023/06/fight-with-style https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2023/06/fight-with-style Mon, 19 Jun 2023 06:00:00 -0400 Bear the standard for religious orthodoxy with  First Things .  Make your contribution to our 2023 spring campaign today at  firstthings.com/donate.

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]]> The Integrity of Poetry https://www.firstthings.com/article/2023/02/the-integrity-of-poetry https://www.firstthings.com/article/2023/02/the-integrity-of-poetry Wed, 01 Feb 2023 00:00:00 -0500 Last year marked the thirtieth anniversary of Dana Gioia’s Can Poetry Matter? , a follow-up to his famous 1991 article in The Atlantic . The article and book caused quite a stir. Gioia observed that poetry was no longer a part of intellectual life in America. It was not published in national newspapers or magazines. It was not memorized in school. It was not discussed at dinner parties or bars, and it never appeared in national discourse. Poetry had “become the specialized occupation of a relatively small and isolated group” who made almost no impact on the culture at large.

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]]> Old Possum Ain't Dead https://www.firstthings.com/article/2023/01/old-possum-aint-dead https://www.firstthings.com/article/2023/01/old-possum-aint-dead Sun, 01 Jan 2023 00:00:00 -0500 Eliot After ‘The Waste Land’
 by robert crawford
 farrar, straus and giroux, 624 pages, $40

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]]> Why Read Literature? https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2013/08/why-read-literature https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2013/08/why-read-literature Fri, 30 Aug 2013 00:00:00 -0400 johnson

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]]> Both an Original and a Man of His Time https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2013/08/both-an-original-and-a-man-of-his-time https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2013/08/both-an-original-and-a-man-of-his-time Tue, 20 Aug 2013 10:21:00 -0400 hollander

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]]> Are These Really the 25 Best Literature Sites? https://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2013/08/are-these-really-the-best-literature-sites https://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2013/08/are-these-really-the-best-literature-sites Tue, 06 Aug 2013 12:21:03 -0400

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]]> An Odd Report on the Humanities https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2013/06/an-odd-report-on-the-humanities https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2013/06/an-odd-report-on-the-humanities Fri, 21 Jun 2013 00:01:00 -0400 humanities On Wednesday, the Academy of Arts and Sciences published its report on the state and value of the humanities and social sciences. The “Commission on the Humanities and Social Sciences,” as it is called, was formed two years ago in response to Congress’s request to know how “to maintain national excellence in humanities and social scientific scholarship and education, and to achieve long-term national goals for our intellectual and economic well-being; for a stronger, more vibrant civil society; and for the success of cultural diplomacy in the 21st century.”

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]]> Holy Words of a Secular Culture https://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2013/06/holy-words-of-a-secular-culture https://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2013/06/holy-words-of-a-secular-culture Mon, 17 Jun 2013 11:12:12 -0400

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