TODAY: In 1960, Emily Post, famous for writing about etiquette, dies. There is something foul about speaking of Breonna Taylor’s death “in the Greek sense.” In which Aaron Robertson responds to a very bad Tweet. | Lit Hub Politic “From the outset, Eisenhower reshaped the presidency in the service of the struggle against the Soviets.” Tim Weiner
Literature
Tonight marks the return of The Antibody Reading Series, a weekly reading and Q and A hosted by Brian Gresko. [embedded content] The guests this evening are Megan Cummins, Melissa Ragsly, and Kelli Jo Ford. You can buy their books from your local indie or from Bookshop: Megan Cummins, If The Body Allows It*Melissa Ragsly, We Know
TODAY: In 1944, poet Eavan Boland is born. “Constipation is being good, keeping between the lines, staying small, keeping contained, following the rules (or pretending to). Taking a shit is being bad.” Jessica Gross provides possibly the definitive literary survey of… constipation. | Lit Hub Criticism Dynastic privilege, a terrible novel, and the race for a
Selected by Dr Oliver Tearle Ever since the Victorians, fantasy fiction has been a huge part of children’s literature. Indeed, classic fantasy novels for children actually emerged some time before serious fantasy literature for adults – modern fantasy, at least – became popular. In this post, we introduce 12 must-read fantasy novels for children and
September 23, 2020, 4:09pm There’s big news in poetry (drumroll, please): Today, the American Academy of Poets announced that Nikky Finney has won the Wallace Stevens Award, which comes with a whopping $100,000 purse. The prize, established in 1994, is conferred annually to honor outstanding artistic achievement in the art of poetry over a poet’s
TODAY: In 1978, Pablo Neruda dies. “Taping a luminous little poem to a parking lot post hardly rose to the level of guerrilla art, but still, it felt subversive.” Maggie Lane on the life of the poet elf. | Lit Hub WATCH: Matt Quinn of Mt. Joy on musical storytelling and early influences, as part of
September 22, 2020, 2:46pm In the latest chapter of Edward Snowden’s legal battle over his 2019 book Permanent Record, a federal judge has ruled that Edward Snowden needs to forfeit about $1 million in speaking fees and $4 million from other book-related earnings to the government. While Snowden’s story and book deal precede our current,
Dear Wisconsin– Dear swing state: Dear battleground and infinite presidential visit: Dear broken-heartland: Dear flyover: Dear Packer fan and Brewer fan and anti-labor leader: Dear Act 10: Dear apple orchard and cranberry bog: Dear Tammy and Ron: Dear Cheesehead: Dear Butter Burger: Dear diabetes and high cholesterol and Ironman: Dear Supermax and overcrowded county lockup:
‘Love’s Philosophy’ is a poem by the second-generation Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822). The poem was published in December 1819 and is one of Shelley’s most accessible short poems. Nevertheless, a few words of analysis may help to illuminate the poem’s meaning. First, though, here’s the text of the poem. Love’s Philosophy The fountains
September 21, 2020, 3:16pm Shirley Jackson’s beloved short novel We Have Always Lived in the Castle, which also happens to have one of the best opening paragraphs of all time, was published on this day in 1962. In addition to being one of the books that shaped me (like so many others) as a writer,
TODAY: In 1964, Saul Bellow’s Herzog is published. The ultimate best books lists: In which we tally all the big fall lists (math!) to figure out which books have been getting the most chatter. | Lit Hub “She taught us what it was to make light. We’ve learned, these past four years, how to transform and
September 18, 2020, 10:15am Last but certainly not least: it’s the time for fiction! The National Book Foundation has announced the ten books contending for this year’s National Book Award for Fiction. The award, created in 1950, is the most prestigious literary prize in the United States, rewarding bold and cogent writing. According to the National
September 18, 2020, 10:59am Susanna Clarke’s Piranesi, Ayad Akhtar’s Homeland Elegies, Walter Mosley’s The Awkward Black Man, and Ben Macintyre’s Agent Sonya all feature among the Best Reviewed Books of the Week. Fiction 1. Piranesi by Susanna Clarke 14 Rave • 5 Positive “The only way in which Piranesi falls short of its predecessor is
TODAY: In 1902, Japanese poet and critic Masaoka Shiki, a major figure in the development of modern haiku poetry who is credited with writing nearly 20,000 stanzas during his short life, dies. The countess who wanted to be the most photographed woman in the world: Nathalie Léger on Virginia Oldoïni of Castiglione. | Lit Hub History “A
September 18, 2020, 11:15am It is so easy to be hopeful in the daytime when you can see the things you wish on. But it was night, it stayed night. Night was striding across nothingness with the whole round world in his hands . . . They sat in company with the others in other
In this week’s Dispatches from The Secret Library, Dr Oliver Tearle enjoys the comic verse by one of the most ‘miserable’ poets in English literature ‘The Crocodile or, Public Decency’ is not one of the best-known poems of A. E. Housman (1859-1936), the classical scholar and poet who failed his Finals at Oxford but went
September 18, 2020, 1:44pm When a group of thieves stole $3.2 million worth of rare books from a London warehouse in 2017, including seminal scientific texts by Isaac Newton and Galileo, they shocked the antiquarian book world and inspired a number of theories about what had happened. Who would target such rare titles—including a 1566
TODAY: In 1902, P. G. Wodehouse’s first novel, The Pothunters, is published in London by A & C Black. Back to school reading for students of all ages: it’s our fall 2020 book preview! | Lit Hub Playwright Dan O’Brien knows that every family is unhappy in its own way: on past traumas and a future for