Hello—
I have been away and working on a class for the past week (I’m rusty at teaching, to say the least), yet I have been saving some favorite reads since I last posted—so enjoy a longer commonplacing post this week, with more to come soon.
Recent loves:
An essay that explores the work of Maria van Schurman, a Dutch feminist writer who is far too little known: “When Anna Maria van Schurman published her “dissertation on women’s capacity for education” in the Dutch Republic in 1641, it was not the first or the last such work, but it was surely the most cogent and unarguable manifesto of its kind.”
This account of rediscovering Natalie Merchant’s music in mid-life.
wrote a wonderful post about his recent visit to a new Tate exhibition: Now You See Us, of women artists from the 16th century to 1920. And you can get a further virtual glimpse here.Bookstores—like Lauren Grofff’s Lynx!—that fight book bans are something to cheer, including this San Francisco bookstore that is sending banned books to conservative states for free.
A lesson in how the history of knots includes the stories of classical mythology
The history of the folklore of the Jersey Devil speaks volumes about the need for women’s reproductive freedom.
How the NY Times’ best books of the 21st-century list completely ignores African writers.
An essay on the realities of land loneliness, in an age that refuses to accept that life is connected to land.
And how the interlocking migration of animals helps regulate the world
And lastly, I wanted to share a substack appreciation:
, writer, mom, and Associate Professor at New York University, along with Allison Lichter, writer, editor, producer, mom, and Associate Dean at Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY are concerned about the way society undervalues and sidelines care work—and have experienced it themselves as professional women with young children, while also caring for elders. Their newsletter explores how women’s work is so undervalued, and how contemporary media continues to code this, with writing that is clear-eyed and sharp. I love the depth of experience and knowledge in their work:And a poem for the week:
All the best for the class Freya! Also thank you for the picture of the flowers 💜
Thank you for sharing so many great links and that lovely poem. And thank you too for the kind mention. Good luck with the teaching! I know how it feels to be classroom rusty.