Walt Whitman‘s birthday (born May 31,1819, in Huntington, Long Island)
Published earlier this year, (edited with an introduction by David Bromwich), a timely distillation, a popular paperback – On Democracy
“Gathered together for the first time, Walt Whitman’s urgently-needed prose writings on the democratic spirit and the soul of the nation.12 short works encapsulate the American Bard’s fiery passions and timeless wisdom for today.”
See also our posting from back in November 2016 – “Walt Whitman on Falsehood and Democracy” – and, more recently, from last year – Whitman’s Relevance for 2025
This Tuesday, June 2nd (6-7 EST), Bromwich will be joined by Whitman scholars. Mark Edmundson, and Karen Karbiener for an examination and discussion – “Poet-Prophet of American Democracy – Walt Whitman’s Vital Political Prose”
This online event is free, but you must preregister to attend.
The publishers write:
“Here for the first time in a convenient pocket edition are all of Walt Whitman’s essential prose writings on democracy, including his unforgettable reflections on the roots on American division, the fearful legacy of the Civil War, and shining example of Abraham Lincoln“.
“Few writers have been as harsh in their condemnation of America’s sins and spiritual shortcomings or as abiding in his faith in democratic ideals as Whitman. His clarion voice speaks to us with renewed urgency today.”
“Few ..have condemned America’s moral failures as harshly as Walt Whitman. At the same time, he maintained a steadfast faith in democratic ideals and a belief in the individual to resist the falsehood, greed, and maladministration he saw rampant in national affairs.”
“Walt Whitman’s outrage at American politics and politicians was surpassed only by his passionate faith in democracy’s future. Both his anger and his hope fire his visionary prose writings on democracy.”
plus – Democracy in action – a word of solidarity with an all-night reading that took place last night (throughout the night), a reading of Whitman’s Song of Myself , organized by the provocatively-named , Strother School of Radical Attention
In the tradition of the recent mass assembled reading of Howl in New York’s Washington Square Park, last month, literary activism, performative activism, celebration not subjection.