Leonard Cohen, a man about whom surely no Hallmark festive movie will ever be made, dared the Divine to answer humanity’s sorrows.
Poet Miriam Waddington (left) participated in the rise of modernist Canadian poetry and Helen Weinzweig (right) wrote the classic feminist novel ‘Basic Black with Pearls.’
(John Reeves/ /Image (cropped) courtesy Archives & Special Collections, University of New Brunswick)
A rich diversity of Canadian Jewish experience is reflected in the poems of Miriam Waddington and the prose of Adele Wiseman, Fredelle Bruser Maynard, Helen Weinzweig and Shirley Faessler.
It may seem counter-intuitive to turn to Leonard Cohen’s ‘depressing’ songs during times of grief and uncertainty. But he shows there is always a reason to keep on keeping on.
Famous expats Charmian Clift and George Johnson, Leonard Cohen and Marianne Ihlen provide inspiration for this heady romance. But the shifts between reality and fiction are distracting at times.
Marianne Ihlen: she remains stuck in the role of the beautiful ingénue, the part-time lover, in Nick Broomfield’s documentary.
Copyright Nick Broomfield
Nick Broomfield’s latest documentary explores the romance between Leonard Cohen and Marianne Ihlen. But the film fails to confront the harder truths of the license taken by, and conceded to, creative men.
Blowing the shofar during Rosh Hashana is one of the holiday’s many traditions.
AP Photo/Emile Wamsteker
Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur are quintessentially Jewish holidays, but an ethicist argues that their values around becoming a better human being, transcend any one religion.
Leonard Cohen pictured in July 2008. His 2016 letter to his ‘muse’ Marianne Ihlen went viral after his death in the same year.
Rolf Haid/EPA
Leonard Cohen’s letter to his former girlfriend on her death bed became a viral phenomenon. But the words that circulated on social media were a paraphrased version, not his own.
In this October 2018, photo, candles lit by activists protesting the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi are placed outside Saudi Arabia’s Consulate in Istanbul.
(AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
Ottawa’s response to Jamal Khashoggi’s murder doubles down on “human rights” rhetoric while failing to take action. It’s a matter of the death of some in exchange for the livelihood of others.
Hydra 1960, including Leonard Cohen (bearded, left) and Redmond Wallis (centre right in cotton shirt).
Photographer unknown. Reproduced with the permission of Dorothy Wallis.
Leonard Cohen’s final (posthumous) book was released in Australia this week. Another new book sheds light on Cohen’s life on Hydra in the 1960s and the relationships he forged with Antipodeans seeking liberation there.
Nick Cave performing with The Bad Seeds in Budapest in June. His song lyrics, with those often melancholy, churchy organ chords, are dripping in references to what might be called sacredness.
Zoltan Balogh/EPA
The enquiry into sacredness is not over, it’s just beginning for the 21st century, and in wildly disparate modes and places. In music, Nick Cave, Hozier and Dr G. Yunupingu have led the way.
Perhaps more clearly than Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen showed that songwriting can be a literary art. Within his apparently simple words lies a profound sense of playfulness and enigma.
Leonard Cohen in 2012 accepting an award for his song lyrics.
Jessica Rinaldi/Reuters
Leonard Cohen, who has died at 82, had both a tragic vision and a voice that was warm, funny and closely observant. His unique gaze helped fans see the world anew.
Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry, Lecturer on Bioethics & Humanities at SUNY Upstate Medical University; and Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Tufts University School of Medicine; Editor-in-Chief Emeritus, Psychiatric Times., Tufts University