Stan Persky

Stan Persky taught philosophy at Capilano University in N. Vancouver, B.C. He received the 2010 B.C. Lieutenant-Governor's Award for Literary Excellence. His most recent books are Reading the 21st Century: Books of the Decade, 2000-2009 (McGill-Queen's, 2011), Post-Communist Stories: About Cities, Politics, Desires (Cormorant, 2014), and Letter from Berlin: Essays 2015-2016 (Dooney's, 2017).

The Flanagan Flap

By Stan Persky / 2013 March 4
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Tom Flanagan, remember him? Probably not, if the news and spin cycle has passed you by.

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The Mother-in-Law Joke

By Stan Persky / 2013 February 27
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Stephen Marche thinks it’s the Golden Age of reading and writing. Howard Jacobson thinks readers are disappearing and fiction is “fooked” (as they say in England). Stan Persky investigates.

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When Atoms Collide

By Stan Persky / 2013 February 2
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Stephen Greenblatt tells the story of a Renaissance book-hunter’s trip to the library. Stan Persky looks at Greenblatt’s “The Swerve” and the pushback from its critics.

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Arme virumque cano

By Stan Persky / 2012 December 23
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Of guns and gunmen. In the wake of the mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, the lamentations may be loud, but the silence of the killer is deafening.

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Are we leaning toward R&R yet?

By Stan Persky / 2012 August 31
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Dooney’s Election Central reports in from the abyss of the American election.

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“This is the Age of Aquarius. The candles will blow themselves out.”

By Stan Persky / 2012 July 3
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Stan Persky reads a long biography of Richard Brautigan.

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The Limits of Civil Liberties

By Stan Persky / 2012 May 12
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It’s the 50th anniversary of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association. Stan Persky, a long-time BCCLA member, reflects.

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Letter from Berlin: Gunter Grass’s Poem

By Stan Persky / 2012 April 17
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Gunter Grass writes a poem, and something happens. Stan Persky explains.

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Letter from Berlin: John Cage Season

By Stan Persky / 2012 March 26
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In Berlin, spring is in the air. So is the music of John Cage.

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The Love That Dared to Write Its Name

By Stan Persky / 2012 March 18
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Stan Persky assesses Christopher Bram’s history of contemporary gay writing.

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