Literature

TODAY: In 1982, John Cheever and Djuna Barnes die; both the Suburbs and Bohemia lose their patron saints.    Jennette Gordon-Reed and Elizabeth Hinton talk to Jelani Cobb about their new books, On Juneteenth and America on Fire, and the nation’s ongoing struggle to make sense of protest and rebellion, from emancipation to the murder of George Floyd.

‘Down the Mine’ is an essay by George Orwell (1903-50), originally published as the second chapter of his 1937 book The Road to Wigan Pier but later reprinted as a separate essay. In ‘Down the Mine’, Orwell describes his experience of going down an English coal mine to see the conditions of coal miners in

June 17, 2021, 1:19pm Recently I was thrilled to learn of Writers Unplugged, a writing show in Bhopal, India where local writers compete in challenges. I love both writing and the constant human surprises of reality television, so when I heard today that Austria has its own prestigious writing television competition, I got excited—especially when

‘That’s my last Duchess painted on the wall’: these famous words begin one of Robert Browning’s most famous (and widely studied) dramatic monologues, ‘My Last Duchess’. But what does Browning mean by having the speaker of his line gesture to his last duchess, or rather the painting of her? Browning (1812-89) was a pioneer of

TODAY: In 1958, Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart is published by William Heinemann.  “The term ‘Internet Literature’ seems perfectly designed to divide us, but we’re getting it all wrong.” Shya Scanlon on our love-hate relationship with that new, wobbly genre. | Lit Hub Criticism Laura Raicovich considers Nan Goldin’s protest against the Sacklers, the myth

The Gospel of Mark is the earliest, the shortest, and in many ways, the most mysterious of the four gospels in the New Testament. Thought to have been written some time after AD 64 (when Nero began persecuting Christians following the great fire of Rome), Mark’s gospel shows the hallmarks of having been written for

June 16, 2021, 1:52pm Two of my favorite living artists are collaborating and I couldn’t be happier. Sarah Polley has come onboard to adapt Miriam Toews’s brilliant, disquieting 2018 novel Women Talking, about a group of women in a rural religious community coming to terms with the serial sexual abuses committed by the men in

‘Neither a borrower nor a lender be’ is a well-known proverbial expression which means ‘do not borrow anything from anyone, and don’t lend anyone anything either’. But should such a sentiment be taken seriously? Or should we take the expression, and the sentiment it expresses, with a pinch of the (proverbial) salt? Let’s take a

TODAY: In 1816 at the Villa Diodati, Lord Byron reads Fantasmagoriana to his house guests—Percy Shelley, Mary Shelley, Claire Clairmont, and John Polidori—and challenges each to write a ghost story, which culminates in Mary Shelley writing Frankenstein (read more about it here).   How Edgar Allan Poe’s 1844 balloon hoax, splashed across the front page of the

Murder in the Cathedral is often called T. S. Eliot’s first play, but technically, it wasn’t even his second. But before we address this, let’s take a closer look at the play itself. Murder in the Cathedral is probably Eliot’s best-known play, and his only completed work of historical drama. Eliot himself later summarised the

June 15, 2021, 3:19pm Calling all Dave Eggers and Jeff Daniels fans alike: the two have teamed up for the audio release of Eggers’ new story, The Museum of Rain, published this month by McSweeney’s and Scribd Originals. Check out a brief excerpt below, or find the full version here. * “Take them to the

The tale of the Three Billy Goats Gruff is well-known throughout Europe, and perhaps even further afield. But what is less well-known is that the story has its origins, not in French or German or Danish literature, like many other fairy tales that are well-known to English-speaking readers, but in Scandinavian literature. Let’s take a

TODAY: In 1894, Norweigan novelist Trygve Gulbranssen is born.    “There are no major or minor leagues between genres.” Marissa Levien wonders why anyone limits themselves to a single genre (and why bookstore patrons keep re-shelving books). | Lit Hub In praise of camp: Amelia Abraham considers Susan Sontag, coming out, and the joys of

‘Was the hope drunk wherein you dress’d yourself?’ So Lady Macbeth taunts her husband for his loss of resolve, in Act 1 Scene 7 of Shakespeare’s play. The scene, and Lady Macbeth’s exchange with her husband, bring the first act of Macbeth to a close, paving the way for the bloody events that will follow