For most of the twentieth century, even as Latin American writers began to achieve world renown for their cutting-edge work, Brazil found itself without a laureate. That is, until Clarice Lispector joined the fray. Born in the Ukraine, Lispector was raised in northeastern Brazil, where she was expose
Robert Frank is among the most important living photographers, but to say this is to understate the self-evident. At the same time, it seems ironic to articulate the importance of an artist who is so indifferent to success and so suspicious of whatever is well regarded.
Frank's work chronicles th
In 1922, Rainer Maria Rilke was staying at the Chateau de Muzot in Switzerland. His masterwork, the "Duino Elegies," had lain unfinished for seven years, and the poet was hoping to find some peace and solitude in which to complete it. Rilke had recently come across a Renaissance painting of the mythi
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan is considered to be the greatest qawwal of his generation. Qawwali, the Sufi music of India and Pakistan, translates literally as "utterance," and it is an ecstatic, spiritual poetry married to music. The music serves to express mystical love and the longing for a union with the