The Legendary Children’s Librarian of Harlem
Raised in a family of storytellers, Augusta Baker continued that tradition, imparting a love of books to readers of all ages.
The Scandalous Play in Mansfield Park
Jane Austen uses Elizabeth Inchbald’s Lovers’ Vows to explore the social boundaries, both public and private, of Regency England.
Speculative Fiction: Beyond a Novel’s Entertainment Value
The classroom is a place to equip students to better understand the world as it was and is. Speculative fiction can help.
Speculative Fiction: A Reading List
Speculative fiction, from Afrofuturism to Star Wars, offers students tools and methods for analyzing social movements, power structures, and utopian thinking.
King James I and the Macbeth Witches
The ever-pragmatic Shakespeare added witches to the Scottish play to please his new patron, King James I of England.
Anne Shakespeare: Toward a Biography
Let’s check in with Anne Shakespeare, née Hathaway, about whom so little is known.
10 Villanelles by Modern and Contemporary Poets
Read these recursive, nineteen-line poems by Elizabeth Bishop, Paisley Rekdal, William Logan, Agha Shahid Ali, and more.
The Intersection of Dance and Science
Lynn Matluck Brooks dives into the ever-evolving relationship between movement and technology.
The Chinatown Novel That Wasn’t
Examining Lin Yutang’s 1948 novel Chinatown Family, Richard Jean So reveals the ways in which literature is shaped by editorial interventions.
Agatha Christie’s Mysterious Disappearance
In December 1926, Christie went missing for more than a week. Where did she go, and what was she up to?