Literature

Although it was the nineteenth century when the novel arguably came into its own, with novelists like Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, George Eliot, and the Brontë sisters writing novels that are still widely read and studied today, the eighteenth century was the age in which the novel emerged as a real force in writing and

TODAY: In 1906, Henrik Ibsen dies. If you’re not already rereading your favorite books all the time, Natalie Jenner recommends it. | Lit Hub Gabrielle Bellot on the disconcerting parallels between “The Machine Stops,” E.M. Forster’s only foray into sci-fi, and our current socially distanced reality. | Lit Hub The only successful coup in the US began as a campaign to

Subtitled ‘A Song Apologetic’, ‘In the Person of Womankind’ is a poem by the poet and playwright, and contemporary of Shakespeare, Ben Jonson (1572-1637). As the title suggests, ‘In the Person of Womankind’ sees Jonson assuming the voice of all women, and addressing men. Before we offer some words of analysis, here’s the text of

May 22, 2020, 10:50am If you’d like to spend the long weekend before Raymond Carver’s birthday revisiting some of his short stories, be sure to add this to the list: There’s only one recording of Raymond Carver reading his iconic short story, “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love,” and it is glorious.

In this week’s Dispatches from The Secret Library, Dr Oliver Tearle goes on his travels to Taormina in Sicily, where D. H. Lawrence lived One tends to associate D. H. Lawrence with his native Nottinghamshire, although Lawrence left his mark on a great number of places. Helen Corke, for instance, even wrote a book with

May 22, 2020, 10:00am On May 23, 2000, fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer tuned in for the finale of season four, expecting another huge production (the last season finale was the two-part “Graduation Day,” after all), though possibly confused as to how the show was going to manage it, considering things with Adam (ugh) and the

‘Now might I do it pat, now he is praying’: so begins one of the numerous soliloquies spoken by Hamlet in Shakespeare’s play. Although it’s not the most famous soliloquy in Hamlet – ‘To be or not to be’ and ‘O that this too too sullied flesh would melt’ are both better-known – ‘Now might

May 21, 2020, 4:01pm Turns out, model and feminist Emily Ratajkowski, known for fighting back against slut-shaming after her droll performance in Robyn Thicke’s Blurred Lines video earned her undeserved criticism (hey, it’s hard out there for a model with giant boobs!), is currently working on an essay collection. That’s right. Selfies can only take

Here are some of the finest poems of remembrance, or about remembrance, which can all be found in the wonderful anthology of remembrance poems, The Nation’s Favourite Poems of Remembrance . Remembrance – whether it’s recalling or remembering a past loved one, or commemorating someone who has passed away – has always been a big

May 21, 2020, 9:30am Bookselling is tricky business: Some months are good, some months are bad, and sometimes, you’re hit with unexpected demand for the novels of an accused murderess and charlatan who became the talk of the town for possibly shooting her husband and holding satanic rituals. There’s a lot going on in this

‘September 1913’ is a poem by W. B. Yeats (1865-1939). It describes Ireland in the month of September 1913, as the title suggests, and sees Yeats lamenting the condition of Ireland at that time. Before we offer an analysis of the poem, here’s a reminder of the text of ‘September 1913’. September 1913 What need

The coronavirus pandemic is dramatically disrupting not only our daily lives but society itself. This show features conversations with some of the world’s leading thinkers and writers about the deeper economic, political, and technological consequences of the pandemic. It’s our new daily podcast trying to make longterm sense out of the chaos of today’s global

What is an epigraph? And what is the difference between an epigraph, an epitaph, and an epigram? We’re here to define the epigraph and differentiate it from its near-homophonous neighbours in the dictionary. So, before we launch into a full introduction to the epigraph and its usefulness for writers, let’s distinguish between epigraph, epitaph, and

TODAY: In 1882, Norwegian novelist Sigrid Undset, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1928, is born. “For such an anti-intellectual, Malaparte is extraordinarily intelligent.” Edmund White on reading Curzio Malaparte, eccentric, writer, liar, fascist. | Lit Hub Great plagues always hit workers the hardest: on Daniel Defoe’s fictional account of the London plague.

‘The More Loving One’ is one of W. H. Auden’s most popular post-1930s poems. At once a celebration of unrequited love and a metaphysical poem about the difficulty of finding ‘love’ and meaning in a secular age, it is a straightforward poem that, like much of Auden’s poetry, conceals more complex meanings beneath the surface.