Robert Hass
Human Wishes was my first exposure to Hass and really effective prose poems, thanks to Gerry Barrax. Some of them really got under my skin.
Corey Robin
I’ve found everything Corey writes to be incredibly rewarding. He does close readings as a historian that rival the best literary criticism for penetrating insight that’s full moral seriousness and sharp edges but also seriously funny.
Hannah Arendt
I went back to read Arendt more deeply thanks to Corey. I have always felt close to her position of “thinking without a bannister,” which has become suddenly much more relevant again.
Eric Voegelin
Voegelin is still an odd, cult figure in philosophy and history who should be better known outside of the circles where he’s a cult figure. I find him fascinating as a person, and the opening of his masterwork, Order and History, is incredible poetry.
Ray Bradbury
There was a summer or two in the early 80s when I read everything by Bradbury in the small Carnegie library in my small upstate New York childhood hometown, and it left a mark. Bradbury is a lot deeper (and prescient) than I thought; going back as an adult now, a lot of Bradbury’s old magic still works.
Dan Knauss writes, edits, and tries to perform acts of humane, open-source webcraft. About 15 years ago he abandoned the financialized academy in disgust and shelved a dissertation on early print culture, politics, and popular protestantism. He still coaches university students, when allowed, in confidence, clarity, and the conviction that they are writers. He is increasingly unsuccessful in suppressing poetry and other useless literary output.