The journal
A curated selection from the Moniqs archive, newest first. More stories are being moved over from the original site.
Reflections · Reflection
Must we be fearless to be brave? Mark Twain’s words and Felix Nussbaum’s haunting Fear invite us to look beyond confidence and discover a more vulnerable kind of courage, expressed through tenderness, human connection and the act of making art.
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Art · Essay
Dutch painters and the lightness of their paintings, from Van Gogh and Arntzenius to Maris and Rembrandt.
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Literature · Reflection
A line from The Lover on what writing can wipe out, replace, and transform.
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Literature · Book review
Monique reflects on Joyce Carol Oates’s intense novel of love, violence, loss, and two families divided by a murder.
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Literature · Reflection
A quiet celebration of books through Edmund Tarbell’s Girl Reading and a much-loved anonymous quotation.
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Reflections · Reflection
Remembering how it was and wondering how it will be… 2020 made us aware of the fragility of our existence. I wish everyone a safe and happy 2021.
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Literature · Essay
“I am a writer and I want to write.” ― Jane Bowles Jane Bowles with her little dog. Fear and Hope “Like most people, you are not able to face more than one fear during your lifetime. You also spend your life fleeing…
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Literature · Reflection
Series Women and their Passion for Books Tavik Simon, Vilma reading on a Sofa, 1912 “What on earth could be more luxurious than a sofa, a book, and a cup of coffee?” Anthony Trollope
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Art · Reflection
MARIA YAKUNCHIKOVA (1870-1902) WOMEN WITH A PASSION FOR ART The first female artist I want to introduce in the series Women with a Passion for Art is Maria Yakunchikova. After seeing one of her paintings called…
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Reflections · Essay
“I am incapable of conceiving infinity, and yet I do not accept finity.” SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR, AN EXISTENTIALIST FEMINIST I was 15 when I discovered Simone de Beauvoir, who was already a well-known writer and avant-garde…
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Reflections · Essay
Emma Justine Farnsworth ~ At Dusk, 1894 A confinement in body …not in soul. What started 5 weeks ago as a horrible time for me due to the Coronavirus and being in confinement turned out to be a useful period I really…
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Literature · Reflection
A QUOTE BY JEAN DE LA FONTAINE “L’absence est le plus grand de tous les maux” (Absence is the greatest of all evils) Jean de la Fontaine (1621-1695) WHO WAS JEAN DE LA FONTAINE? Jean de La Fontaine was a French fabulist…
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