Literature

June 26, 2023, 11:24am A new “oldest book in the world” has been discovered! And it’s about tax records pertaining to beer and olive oil. Researchers at Special Collections at Graz University Library recently… …came across an Egyptian papyrus from the 3rd century BC [that] shows evidence of sewing, indicating that it must have been

Let us consider the brighter and sillier side of Henry David Thoreau on the subject of work. Sometimes, when work is at its worst—its most exacting, alienating, rushed—we need grim humor to be honest with those around us, to break through all of the toxic positivity, prim professionalism, and the artificiality of a human animal

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) Don McLean’s ‘American Pie’ is one of the most famous songs in the annals of rock music. McLean’s most popular song – when asked that the song meant, he famously said ‘it means I don’t have to work if I don’t want to’ – the song has attracted numerous

This first appeared in Lit Hub’s Craft of Writing newsletter—sign up here. If you’ve ever tried to walk somewhere with a toddler, you’ll have a sense of what reading the first draft of my novel was like: Despite the promise of a destination, you are forced to stop to examine every stoop, every tree, every rock, every

By now, we’re adept at defending our interest in television’s antiheroes. As viewers and critics, we’ve been rehearsing versions of this defense since The Sopranos. Even if a series follows a depraved protagonist, or multiple depraved protagonists, it can still be concerned with the moral considerations weighed by its audience. Perhaps that series can even

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) ‘The Doctor’s Word’ is a story from Malgudi Days, the short-story collection by the Indian writer R. K. Narayan (1906-2001). This short tale tells of a doctor, Ramu, who goes to attend to his sick friend, Gopal. As Jhumpa Lahiri points out in her informative introduction to the Penguin

TODAY: In 1900, the Hanlin Library, the greatest library in the world (that you’ve never heard of), burns down. At long last, summer has arrived! Celebrate with 50 of the greatest summery novels of all time (according to us). | Lit Hub Reading Lists Sometimes all you need to get writing again is… Taylor Swift. | Lit Hub Music “Self-hating, dishonest,

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) Metre (or meter) is a key building-block of poetry. Often used synonymously with the term ‘rhythm’, the metre of a poem is the pattern of the poem’s rhythm: the ground-plan, if you will, which determines the overall pattern of the poem’s rhythmic structure. The term ‘metre’ is from the

TODAY: In 1901, Turkish author Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar is born.    Gentle wisdom for a postwar era: Lisa Rowe Fraustino considers the context of The Velveteen Rabbit as it turns 100. | Lit Hub History Noah Ciubotaru wonders if our praise for TV’s antiheroes has been misplaced (and recommends shows that actually engage with morality).

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) ‘The Devoted Friend’ is one of the fairy tales for children written by the Irish author Oscar Wilde (1854-1900). It was published in the 1888 collection The Happy Prince and Other Tales. ‘The Devoted Friend’ is about a Miller named Hugh, who professes to be devoted to his friend

June 23, 2023, 8:31am The winners of its ninth annual Firecracker Awards were announced by the The Community of Literary Magazines & Presses in a virtual ceremony on June 22nd, and some of the year’s most talked-about titles were on the list. Each winner receives a prize of between $1,000 and $2,000. Roll on to

June 22, 2023, 10:24am Oh dear. Earlier this month, Publishers Weekly reported on romance readers’ increased appetite for books with “cinnamon rolls” and “golden retrievers” as their leading men—categories that are exactly what they sound like: “sweet, supportive, and kind” (CR) and possessed of “a warm, floppy energy and positive attitude” (GR). “We’re seeing changing

June 22, 2023, 12:35pm The child in each of us Knows paradise.Paradise is home.Home as it was Or home as it should have been. Paradise is one’s own place,One’s own people,One’s own world,Knowing and known,Perhaps even Loving and loved. Yet every child Is cast from paradise-Into growth and new community,Into vast, ongoingChange. Octavia E. Butler, beloved Sci-Fi titan and

TODAY: In 1851, Sojourner Truth’s “Ain’t I a Woman” is published in the Anti-Slavery Bugle.     Also on Lit Hub: Stacy Jane Grover recounts the quiet shuffle of a death vigil in Central Appalachia • New poetry from Megan Fernandes • Read from Leila Slimani’s newly translated novel, Watch Us Dance (tr. Sam Taylor)

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) ‘Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard are sweeter’. This line is among the most famous quotations found in the work of John Keats (1795-1821). But what does the line mean, and how should we analyse it? How can ‘unheard’ melodies be of any use to anyone? ‘Ode on

June 21, 2023, 10:21am “I believe, to quote the Salvadoran poet Roque Dalton, ‘that poetry, like bread, is for everyone.’” So begins the reign of Ricardo Maldonado at the Academy of American Poets, announced on Wednesday to be its new president and executive director—the first Latino poet to be so named. Maldonado was born and

Lorrie Moore’s latest novel, I Am Homeless If This Is Not My Home, is available now. * Who do you most wish would read your book?Someone who loves to make operas out of novels. So… Massenet? Also anyone who is susceptible to letting the voices of a narrative wash over them and settle in some

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) ‘Video Games’ is one of Lana Del Rey’s best-known songs. But what is the meaning of this downtempo ballad? The lyrics, which were written by Del Rey and Justin Parker, invite two possible, somewhat conflicting, interpretations. Let’s take a closer look at the song’s lyrics and analyse their ambiguous