Archive - Ruth Vanita

How Shakespeare Invented what We Call a "Phobia"

Shakespeare had probably never seen a Jew because King Edward I expelled Jews from England in 1290.

Jul 9 •

June 2025

May 2025

Killing Indifference

Like it or not, most of us spend considerable time on social media these days.

May 26 •

"A licence to kill is given out to every maniac"

Tomorrow is Bob Dylan's birthday.

May 23 •

“They say, Peace, Peace, where there is no peace” A Cento for October 7th

A cento is a poem made up of lines from other poems. The key to this cento appears at the end of the poem.

May 10 •

The Killing of Hindus in Kashmir

On April 22, Muslim terrorists in Pahalgam, which is a mountain resort in the Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir, cornered a group of Indian tourists from…

May 1 •

April 2025

What Poetry has Done for Me

My wife and son often tease me about my penchant for quoting lines from poems that are brought to mind by experiences, observations or states of mind or…

Apr 25 •

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