Posts by author
Sam Riley
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Remembering Cy Twombly
Cy Twombly, the 83 year-old conceptually diverse artist, died in Rome today. He was an American painter living in Italy, known for his graffitti-like paintings and his genre-shattering abstractions that drew from poetry and mythology. “In the only written statement…
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Sweet Deal!
Rumpus readers are getting a sweet deal! The good folks over at Litquake are hosting an event on July 10th called the New Literary Vanguard, in which they will “delve into the minds of the new generation of American male…
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No More Liking, Please
Has the point-of-view been rendered anachronistic by internet marketing? When we “like” something on Facebook, are we participating in a conformist internet-based culture? This Wall Street Journal article discusses the perils of “liking” and encourages us to be fearless and…
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Announcing the 2011 Music Issue of the Believer !!
Ladies and Gentlemen, the 2011 Music Issue of the Believer Magazine is upon us. This year’s issue has got some unprecedented audible sensations, which I will relay in the following list: 1. Trey Anastasio of Phish is interviewed for this…
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Compliments by Franzen
Jonathan Franzen said, “It speaks like none of us for all of us,” in reference to The Hundred Brothers, novel he praises while announcing its uber strangeness. Feelings of mixed hatred and love for family members, simultaneously frustrating and loveable…
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Kansas Shutdown
Kansas is facing a total shutdown of their abortion clinics as of this Friday, after a new law passed requiring all clinics to apply new (and strict) standards that regulate everything from number and size of rooms per clinic to…
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Techno-optimism For All
Jason Silva is working on a film, Turning Into Gods (trailer below), that is filling in the space between science and art. He considers their dichotomy which is becoming more and more important with all the recent advances in nano/biotechnology.…
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Dear Sugar Will Be Back Tomorrow!
Everybody! This is the time of the week where you’re probably itching in anticipation for your Sugar fix, but we are asking you to hold off one more day. Sugar will be back tomorrow to supply you with your weekly…
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Celebrating 75 Years of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop
This year marks the 75th anniversary of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, which we are excited to participate in! The Rumpus will be featuring essays from Iowa alumni in the coming weeks. Keep an eye out for those and stay updated…
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Accidental Political Poets
Poetry is the literary art form that can most readily adapt the grammatically-fraught, political commentaries of Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann, apparently. Michael Solomon compiled and edited a bunch of Sarah Palin-isms in I Hope Like Heck: The Selected Poems…
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Chinese Political Prisoners and “Confessing”
“Chinese confessions are as much a ritual as the kowtow, the ‘three kneelings and the nine prostrations,’ of dynastic times. Foreign journalists are occasionally compelled to make such confessions, although they are in far less danger than Chinese dissidents. At…
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Goodbye Oxford Comma
A University of Oxford Style Guide has decided to go minimalist on all the grammarians and drop the oxford comma. They’re making big decisions over there. Watch out: ‘“As a general rule, do not use the serial/Oxford comma: so write…