culture. education. literary studies.
[This post has been written with ESL/EFL students in mind, CEFR level B2 and above.] Letโs be honest, reading poetry doesnโt come naturally to most of us. Same as with visual arts or classical music, sometimes it's difficult to understand complex symbolism or to follow a poetโs train of thought. And what to do with …
Continue reading "How to interpret a poem (with a little help from Walt Whitman)"
A young woman is brutally attacked in her rural Indiana home and almost left for dead. Her memory is patchy, evidence inconclusive, yet in court she insists that it was her extremely jealous husband who did the deed; of that she is absolutely certain. On the basis of her testimony, he gets convicted and ends …
A small town in rural Minnesota. A family struggling with a history of alcoholism, mental illness and suicide. And snow - lots and lots of it. The Center of Winter is Marya Hornbacherโs first novel, but she is no stranger to writing on sensitive topics: her first book was much acclaimed Wasted: A Memoir of …
Continue reading "Book review: “The Center of Winter” by Marya Hornbacher"
[The following post is also available in Croatian. Please click here to access.] In case the ongoing stream of various global disasters hasnโt been enough to spook you, here are a couple of suggestions as to how you might spend your evenings this Halloween season โ or, if youโre anything like me, most evenings during …
Continue reading "Horror cult classics: my top 3 Spooktober tips"
grammaticus 