How has the Russian invasion of Ukraine affected life in Cyprus? Given Russia’s long history of investment in Cyprus, the impact is substantial.
From The Cyprus Files, the sub-blog of my newsletter, here is a quick primer on the Russian-Cypriot relationship.
This week in The Cyprus Files, join me on Mount Olympus for a look at the Troödos mountain range, an unlikely ski resort, and the UNESCO World Heritage-certified painted churches of Byzantine vintage.
As always, thanks for reading!
Ishtar. Astarte. Aphrodite’s origins go way back on Cyprus. Learn more about the myth of Aphrodite and important locations for her ancient worship in the latest issue of my newsletter spin-off, The Cyprus Files. Thanks for reading!
As the pandemic resurges to the top of the news, learn about how the situation is being handled in Cyprus, in the latest post in my newsletter series, The Cyprus Files.
Stay safe out there. Thanks for reading.
In this week’s “Cyprus Files” newsletter, learn about my adventures driving on the LEFT side of the road in Cyprus—and my experience at the local equivalent of the DMV.
Thanks for reading, and be sure to follow The Usonian for more dispatches from Cyprus.
Many thanks to The Nassau Weekly for publishing a follow-up essay to a piece I wrote on the refugee crisis in Greece four years ago, a crisis which has recently entered an even more precarious phase given the Coronavirus. Thanks also to the Nass for inviting me to speak at their virtual open mic earlier this month. Read the new piece, “The End of Moria? Looking back on migration-crisis reporting in Greece as a college student,” here.
Please consider donating to The Nassau Weekly at http://nassauweekly.com/donate/ to keep this important Princeton campus publication afloat in these uncertain times.
Travel writing has a long and storied history, dating back to the time of Herodotus. But what is the place of travel writing in the 21st century?
Should travel writing be written by a traveler, or by people who live in the places being written about in question? Should travel writing use the first-person perspective? And how should travel journalists frame their coverage in the age of Trump?
I try to address these questions in my review of The Best American Travel Writing 2019 anthology: “No ‘I’ in Travel: Travel writing in the Trump era” published in The Start Up, Medium’s largest publication. Check it out at the above hyperlink; I hope it can at least distract you from the terrible public health crisis afflicting the globe.
Stay inside and wash your hands!
Curious about the connection between the Hamilton-Burr duel, grave-robbing, the US’s first botanical garden, and Rockefeller Center?
Today, Dr. David Hosack is mostly known as the attendant doctor during the Hamilton-Burr duel, a role which overshadowed his career as a leading American physician and botanical pioneer.
Read my latest piece in Princeton Alumni Weekly about David Hosack, one of America’s “founding physicians.”
Art by Daniel Hertzberg for PAW.
Working from home today? Tired of reading about COVID-19?
Maybe you’ll read about Texas. Last week, I got the chance to spend time in San Antonio and Austin, TX during the 2020 AWP Conference (which, of course, was marred by the then-dawning novel coronavirus pandemic).
During my travels, what I learned was this: If San Antonio offers a glimpse of Texas’ past, Austin might just yet be a glimpse of its future.
Check out my new travel piece on the divergent trajectories of San Antonio and Austin, TX, from my Medium blog.
On Wednesday, October 2, 2019, former vice president Joe Biden visited Reno and immediately set about addressing Trump’s false claims in the wake of the rapidly mushrooming Ukraine scandal. Read my essay in Medium, the fourth post in my Reno Election 2020 politics series.
Harrison Blackman 