Fiction & Poetry
A Sonnet for Sarah Palin
The Obsolete Vernacular’s resident classicist, Mark Cichra, presents a sonnet for the Alaskan governor, and potential Vice President of our fine land.
Elizabeth Bishop, Con Spirito
From time to time we at the Vernacular make omissions in our endeavors. Fortunately, our co-writers and readers are quick to jump on our mistakes. Contributor Trinity Boscardin discusses Elizabeth Bishop, the poet from Massachusetts, and her unforgettable Pulitzer Prize winning work.
Robert Lowell, Massachusetts
In recognition of April being National Poetry Month, OV editor Michael Grandone shares his recent poetic discovery: Robert Lowell. As a son of Massachusetts, Lowell managed to speak with a voice that can affect any reader, but one still indicative of his home.
On Reading Moby Dick: The Heart as a Whale
In a new series for the Obsolete Vernacular, a writer presents an important work of literature, in metaphor. In the first installment John Broderick looks at that leviathan of a novel, Moby Dick.
A Tea Party in Which We are Primarily Concerned with Lamp, Clock and Bureau
By Trinity Boscardin -
The oV presents an original short story that is bourgeois, talebearing, and crestfallen.
The Believer Cramps Our Style
Dear Editors of the Believer-
We saw the October issue of your fine magazine.
And then we flipped to pages 40-41. Hm. They seem to feature a schema by Chris Bachelder entitled “When Basketball Imitates Melville.” In it, Bachelder compares The 2007 NBA Western Conference Semi-Finals to Herman Melville’s Billy Budd. It’s a [...]
Charm : OV Fiction
by Trinity Boscardin
I‘m from one of those towns where every one of your best friends has dated at least one of your ex-girlfriends, but you can joke about it now because neither one of you is the father of her three-year-old child. That poor bastard was on the rival school’s football team until your ex-girlfriend’s [...]
