The Lady of Shalotte by Alfred Lord Tennisanyone

Posted on August 28, 2002 by Marco Graziosi

The Lady of Shalotte by Alfred Lord Tennisanyone (with a bob of the head to Edward Lear and “The Akond of Swat.”)
Winner of the Poetry Parody Contest at the Julia A. Moore Poetry Festival – Peoples’ Choice Award 2000.

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A little light versifying

Posted on August 28, 2002 by Marco Graziosi

David McKie: A little light versifying
Lear celebrates, even venerates, absurdity, especially absurdity practised in the face of public scorn…
The reversionary limerick, as practised by Lear, failed to catch on because it needed a Lear to fashion it.
[A review of Routledge’s recent facsimile reprint of the 1861 Book of Nonsense.Thanks to Julie Rybicki.]
Guardian Unlimited

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Ken Nordine

Posted on August 28, 2002 by Marco Graziosi

Ken Nordine
Nordine’s topics range far and wide. The opening track, “As of Now,” is based on the writings of the second century Roman philosopher and emperor Marcus Aurelius. In “The Akond of Swat,” he blasts away at the world of a Middle Eastern despot by utilizing the text of the pioneering 19th-century nonsense writer Edward Lear.
[Nothing else on Lear, but his arrangement of “The Akond of Swat” is so good, actually the best of a Lear poem I have ever heard, that he deserves mention here. Thanks to Julie Rybicki for the link.]
Salon (July 11, 2001)

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"The Limerick is Furtive and Mean…"

Posted on August 26, 2002 by Marco Graziosi

“The Limerick is Furtive and Mean…”
From the Maigue poets to Ogden Nash, witty wordsmiths have delighted in composing the oft-risqu� five-line verses.
[Nice article, though it repeats the myth of the Irish origin of the limerick and does not mention Lear’s direct antecedents. Thanks to Arthur Deex for sending me the link: ah, don’t forget to download the full text of the article in pdf format.]

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Lear, il nonsense fatto re

Posted on August 17, 2002 by Marco Graziosi

Lear, il nonsense fatto re
Lear non solo reinventò il “nonsense verse”, seppe anche illustrarlo con i suoi disegni tanto apparentemente primitivi quanto espressivi. Vero e proprio fotogramma a matita dei grotteschi e patetici personaggi che popolano un universo terribilmente vittoriano di follia e falsa innocenza.
KataLibri

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Carroll's Artistry and Our Obsessions

Posted on August 16, 2002 by Marco Graziosi

Carroll’s Artistry and Our Obsessions
THE man who wrote “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” and “Through the Looking-Glass” was an equally brilliant photographer. But in modern times Lewis Carroll’s achievements have been overshadowed by the widely held conviction that his primary inspiration, literary and artistic, was an unsavory obsession with little girls.
New York Times, August 11, 2002

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In the eye of the beholder

Posted on August 16, 2002 by Marco Graziosi

In the eye of the beholder / Lewis Carroll photography show raises difficult aesthetic questions
The exhibition asks us to set aside cultural reference points such as the paintings of Balthus (1908-2001), Vladimir Nabokov’s “Lolita,” the photographs of Sally Mann and the profit system’s address to children as a mass market precociously attuned to sexual innuendo.
Nickel’s essay will persuade any reader that we ought to hold this knowledge in abeyance when we look at Carroll’s pictures of children. But is it possible? Can we believe that Carroll innocently preferred female children’s company because of a guilelessness and intelligence he found too seldom in adults?
San Francisco Chronicle, August 5, 2002

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The Crockett Johnson Homepage

Posted on July 25, 2002 by Marco Graziosi

The Crockett Johnson Homepage
Very nice and exhaustive site about the creator of Barnaby.

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Edward, the Owl & the Calico Cat: Winking & Nudging by the Light of the Silvery Moon

Posted on July 22, 2002 by Marco Graziosi

Edward, the Owl & the Calico Cat: Winking & Nudging by the Light of the Silvery Moon
In Edward, the Owl & the Calico Cat, Cicchini pays homage and close attention to the author [EL], winking and nudging through this tale of Edward, the lonely boy whose social skills alienate the only true flesh-and-blood friend he has, his cat.
The Austin Chronicle Arts: Exhibitionism

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Stuff and Nonsense at White Flint Mall

Posted on July 20, 2002 by Marco Graziosi

Stuff and Nonsense at White Flint Mall
JUMBLIES MAY live in lands “far and few” — but kids can see them this summer in Bethesda. Straight out of Edward Lear’s whimsical verse, these colorful characters are now singing, dancing and sailing in a sieve at BAPA’s Imagination Stage, a children’s theater at White Flint.
washingtonpost.com, July 19, 2002

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