Goodbye, Mr Chippy: As Craig Raine prepares for retirement the fiction critics are sharpening their knives
About 40 minutes after I meet Craig Raine to discuss his first novel, Heartbreak, the poet-critic-teacher-literary entrepreneur suddenly begins to cry. Unsure how to react, I decide to cover any awkwardness by pointing out a possible typographical error in the Ezra Pound poem Raine quotes in his book’s final pages.
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More than fireworks for July 4
Happy birthday, Stephen Foster, Pittsburgh’s greatest songwriter, born here 184 years ago today. That date — July 4, 1826 — is an iconic one in the nation’s history. It was also the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and the day that two of its signers and later presidents, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, died.
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