Spring 2022 The State of Play
Can we measure the health of our society by our fondness for play? Experts say yes—it’s been key to our well-being from the first campfires through the Renaissance until today. Learn how games can help us to renew ourselves and our communities, as we emerge from the pandemic.
A new book from Notting Hill Editions–On Dolls–takes us back to childhood when our playthings were vividly alive.
L. John Harris reminds us of the pleasures of the Paris café in the Belle Epoque, and says it’s time to revive them once again.
Phil Cousineau considers the role of the Olympics as brokers of peace and inspiration for teamwork and community-building today.
Valerie Andrews describes the joy of growing up in a musical family and how playing an instrument prepares us for each new stage of life.
Yuki Hartmann shows how us a poet playfully leaps in to the future and tells us what’s to come.
On Cats, edited by Margaret Atwood, and On Dogs, compiled by Tracey Ullman, show what we gain from playing with our pets.
J. Ruth Gendler unearths the natural poetry in children, and sees herself as “an anthropologist of the imagination.
Sara Evans explores playing with Lincoln logs, making sandcastles, and erecting towers with building blocks.
Laurie Lisle says a garden can be a writer’s playground—a place to balance art and life.
New workshops on the fool as the key to new beginnings, how music affects our emotions, and theater improv as a tool for coping with uncertainty.
A look at two renegade artists who poke fun at social mores (Robert Arneson) and fashion alternate universes (Karla Knight).
