Chinese Science Fiction Before The Three Body Problem
Viewing the genre as a means to spread modern knowledge, Chinese novelists have been writing science-fiction stories since at least 1902.
José Garcia Villa, an American Poet Ahead of His Time
While Villa’s otherness created an opening for his work in the US, American critics ultimately held both his modernism and his nationality against him.
Mark Twain’s Obsession with Joan of Arc
Despite being famous for his witty analyses of the American South, Twain was proudest of the historical fiction he wrote about France’s legendary martyr.
G. Legman and the Bawdy Eclectic
A fierce opponent of censorship, Gershon Legman helped legitimize the academic study of erotic folklore as manifested in jokes, limericks, and songs.
What Is Punctuation For?
Between the medieval and modern world, the marks used to make writing more legible changed from “pointing” to punctuation.
That Time Thor and Loki Cross-Dressed
Why the Old Norse gods disguised themselves as a bride and bridesmaid before visiting Thrymr, king of Jötunheima.
Mary Taylor, Charlotte Brontë’s Cool Friend
An independent traveler and business owner, Taylor inspired many of Brontë's own enterprises, including her relocation to Brussels.
A Tale of Two Visionaries
What roiled the mind of Nebraska poet John Neihardt with whom Black Elk, the iconic Lakota holy man, shared his story?
The Short Life (and A New Revival) of The Brownies’ Book
A new anthology celebrates the life and impact of one of the earliest American periodicals written for Black children.
Decolonizing the Language of Overseas France
School systems in French Polynesia and New Caledonia are attempting to revitalize vernacular languages that were suppressed under French colonialism.