February 1, 2021, 2:11pm Some light snowstorm viewing for you: Gore Vidal and Kurt Vonnegut and Jill Krementz having a wonderful time. In under two minutes, Vidal—known for his mean witticisms—hits on Jill Krementz; says he was the first choice for Vonnegut’s cameo in Back to School (where Vonnegut plays himself); and owns up to
Literature
‘We Are Seven’ is one of the most famous poems by William Wordsworth to appear in the 1798 collection Lyrical Ballads, the book which he co-authored with Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Indeed, after ‘Lines Written a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey’, ‘We Are Seven’ is probably Wordsworth’s most widely known and best-loved poem in the collection.
February 1, 2021, 9:50am Every six months or so we get news* of agents charging writers to read their submissions or asking for up-front fees ahead of representation… WRITERS! Do not do this. Reputable agents will not ask you for money: they will sell your work and take a commission. The latest example, caught by
January 29, 2021, 11:14am It’s Friday AND it’s Anton Chekhov’s birthday AND we’re in the middle of an endless pandemic so I’m going to rank the following images of young Chekhov according to their hotness. Because I am a serious literary man. 10. Is that the very first whisper of chin hair on babyface young
January 29, 2021, 11:52am It’s Friday, so why not look at some pictures of beautiful (literature-inspired) dresses that cost as much as pretty nice cars! Designer Kim Jones told British Vogue that his first collection for the luxury fashion house Fendi was inspired by the Bloomsbury Group, specifically Virginia Woolf’s Orlando. “They were like a
January 29, 2021, 11:55am It’s been a whirlwind month for Amanda Gorman: in the nine days since the 22-year-old poet delivered her original poem “The Hill We Climb” at President Joe Biden’s inauguration, she’s been announced to perform at the Super Bowl; signed to IMG Models; and her two forthcoming books, The Hill We Climb
TODAY: In 1931, Australian novelist, short story writer, and essayist Shirley Hazzard, is born. Happy weekend: here’s (one of) Joan Didion’s seminal essay(s), “Why I Write.” | Lit Hub Astrophysicist Avi Loeb investigates that giant interstellar object that passed through our solar system (please tell us you haven’t forgotten about ‘Oumuamua!). | Lit Hub Science “Much of what has been created to
In this week’s Dispatches from The Secret Library, Dr Oliver Tearle analyses the meaning of T. S. Eliot’s famous opening words to his greatest poem ‘April is the cruellest month’ is the opening line to T. S. Eliot’s 1922 poem The Waste Land. There are, actually, two things I could say in response to the
January 29, 2021, 1:01pm Here’s something wonderful: Karabuk University’s library, in Karabuk, Turkey, is designed to look like a row of large books on a shelf. It’s so cheerful—and there is a pleasure and clarity in something stating what it is. Others have noticed the joy of buildings like this: architects Robert Venturi, Denise Scott
TODAY: In 1763, French Enlightenment poet Louis Racine dies. “Much of what has been created to give purpose to lonely, empty hours will not be seen by future generations—the muffins eaten, the gardens remodeled or abandoned. Words on the page, though, have longevity.” Anne Youngson considers pandemic hobbies and writing fiction. | Lit Hub What
January 28, 2021, 1:41pm Despite the struggles quarantine posed for musicians, 2020 was a breakout year for 20-year-old singer-songwriter Arlo Parks—from releasing six singles to being named BBC’s Introducing Artist of the Year to to winning the AIM Independent Music Award for One to Watch to teaming up with Phoebe Bridgers on a memorable Radiohead
TODAY: In 1939, W. B. Yeats dies. “In the years when Christa and I grew up, women didn’t get to be astronauts. They married or gave birth to them.” Joyce Maynard reflects on the day she spent with Christa McAuliffe before the Challenger disaster, 35 years ago today. | Lit Hub History Now that the
The story of Philomela is well-known. And one of the most famous details of the myth of Philomela, her sister Procne, and King Tereus, is the fact that someone was turned into a nightingale. But who? And what is the meaning of this classical myth? Before we get to these questions, it might be worth
January 27, 2021, 2:39pm Hats off to Min Jin Lee, who just announced that she’s writing the script for the upcoming adaptation of her celebrated 2007 novel, Free Food for Millionaires. The show, to be produced by Alan Yang (Master of None), will take us back to 1990s Manhattan. (New Yorkers might recall seeing the
TODAY: In 1898, the first part of the 12-part serialization of Henry James’ novella The Turn of the Screw is published in Collier’s Weekly Magazine. “By the early 1950s, female sexuality, once hailed as explosive, now seemed almost as frightening as communism.” Gabrielle Glaser on the history of “girls in trouble.” | Lit Hub History
January 26, 2021, 2:30pm Drop your buffs! The reality TV show contestant Stephen Fishbach, most well-known as the strategically gifted runner-up of Survivor: Tocantins and slightly less well-known as one of People’s hottest bachelors of 2009, is now a full-time fiction writer, completing a low-residency MFA at NYU; taking workshops with Nathan Englander and Garth
TODAY: In 1784, in a letter to his daughter, Benjamin Franklin expresses his unhappiness over the eagle as the symbol of America. Also on Lit Hub: A brief history of the death penalty in America • Danielle Gellar traces her mother’s footsteps through artifacts left behind • Read an excerpt from Tove Ditlevsen’s newly translated
Hamlet’s ‘Get thee to a nunnery’ speech to Ophelia is a memorable moment in a play full of memorable moments. Before we analyse his speech, here’s a reminder of the relevant section of the play, which is found in Act 3 Scene 1, not long after Hamlet’s famous ‘To be, or not to be’ soliloquy.