“what is enlightenment?” reading the 18th Century after 11/09/16

I’m a poet and a fiction-writer. But for many years, I wrote about Anglo-European 18th Century literature — the texts read and admired by the folks (white, straight, nominally “christian” [or were they?] men) who founded the United States. Until I decide otherwise, I’m going to spend some time on my blog revisiting my fascination with this period and the writing it produced. What happens when we go back to the past before the beginning — to the writers who inspired the “us” that made this country? We’ll see.