Michael Demson, Masks of Anarchy, Book Reviews
Graham Henderson
The Story of The Mask of Anarchy, from Shelley ...

I have a treat in store for members of the Shelley Nation.  Michael Demson’s book, Masks of Anarchy tells the story of two political radicals and the poem that brought them together:  Percy Shelley and the early 20th Century union organizer he inspired, Pauline Newman.  Demson, in collaboration with illustrator Summer McClinton, accomplishes this through an unusual medium: a radical comic. This gets my RPBS "Stamp of Champ, You Must Read This" recommendation! You can get the eBook for about $14 CDN and the paperback for $8.  This is an unbelievable bargain. Just DO IT!

The Story of The Mask of Anarchy, from Shelley to the Triangle Factory Fire
Ciarán O'Rourke, A Revolutionary Year, Paul O'Brien
Graham Henderson
Shelley's Revolutionary Year - a review by ...

In May of 1820, Percy Byshe Shelley, who was living at Pisa at the time, in Italy, wrote two letters to his friend Leigh Hunt. In the letter Shelley asked if Hunt knew if “any bookseller would like to publish a little volume of popular songs, wholy political, and destined to awaken and direct the imagination of reformers.“ Hunt declined to publish the collection and what a loss it was. In 1990, 170 years later, Paul Foot and Redwoods books set out to right the wrong by collecting together those works which they thought Shelley most likely would have included in the collection. It’s been 30 years since this collection was published. And now, I assume in honour of the 200th anniversary of Peterloo, Redwoods is republishing this collection. The new edition has been updated and we are now treated to an afterword by the brilliant Irish Shelley scholar Paul O’Brien. Ciarán O’Rourke is a brilliant young poet and Marxist from Ireland. He is the founder and editor of the online archive Island's Edge Poetry which features interviews with contemporary Irish poets about their work and craft. His first collection, The Buried Breath, is available from Irish Pages Press. He is based in Dublin, Ireland. Read his review of the new edition here!

Shelley's Revolutionary Year - a review by Ciarán O'Rourke
Keats, Paradise Lost, Annotations
Graham Henderson
Keats’ Annotated Copy of Paradise Lost is Now ...

Most of my focus at The Real Percy Bysshe Shelley is on Percy Shelley’s poetry and prose - and his radical politics in particular. But every now and then, it is important to draw attention to other poets in his circle; particularly those whom he admired. So today I want draw everyone’s attention to the recent digital publication of Keats’ two volume copy of Milton’s Paradise Lost.

Keats’ Annotated Copy of Paradise Lost is Now Online!!
Elinor Wylie, The Orphan Angel, My Father's Library
Graham Henderson
What if Shelley Didn't Drown?

This novel by the brilliant American poet and novelist Elinor Wylie imagines that instead of drowning, Shelley was rescued and taken to America where he lived out his life.

What if Shelley Didn't Drown?
Mark Andresen, The Pan Review, Graham Henderson
Graham Henderson
Mark Andresen and the Pan Review

Mark Andresen is a long time follower of this blog and also the creator of his own. The Pan Review is a delightfully eclectic and articulate review of issues current in the arts and literary scene. He regularly features author interviews.  A recent Mary Shelley-themed issue, for example, featured an interview with the sculptor Bryan Moore (who will soon unveil his bronze bust of Mary Shelley at the Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle), Mark's review of Fiona Sampson's disappointingly adversarial biography of Mary Shelley and an interview with yours truly in which I answered questions about how Shelley came into my life and what I think is important about him.

Mark Andresen and the Pan Review

Articles of Interest

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Will Britain Make It? The "Mask of Anarchy" is Timelier than Ever

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Will Britain Make It? The "Mask of Anarchy" is Timelier than Ever

Professor John Mullan analyses how Shelley transformed his political passion, and a personal grudge, into poetry.

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"What Should We Do to Resist Trump" by Sandy Grant. Comment by Graham Henderson

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"What Should We Do to Resist Trump" by Sandy Grant. Comment by Graham Henderson

As the famous French proverb says, "plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose": the more things change the more they stay the same. This oft repeated truism seems to have real relevance in 2017.  If Shelley was to drop in on us today, I think what would most surprise him would not be rockets and computers, but rather that in two hundred years so little has changed. Wealth is, if any thing, more concentrated in the hands of the few. We are a priest-ridden society and authoritarian regimes are not in recession, they are advancing. Entire civilizations are dominated by theocracies. That should be a sobering message to all of us.  What progress we make is wrung from the entrenched power-brokers at great cost and can just as easily be snatched away.  Sandy Grant is not wrong: we must resist, protest and create with others the possibilities of change. We must harness our emotions for the eternal struggle. Oh, and we must read Shelley!

 

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