Strange, Inglorious, Humble Things
Dorothea and Gladys Cromwell fled the constrictions of high society for the freedoms of the literary world. Ravenous for greater purpose, the twins then went to war.
The Horror!
If Dracula represented the collective fears of his day, what do the likes of Slender Man and other internet monsters tell us about the zeitgeist of right now?
The Poetry Contest Edna St. Vincent Millay Lost
Though her writing career opened in an inauspicious manner, Edna St. Vincent Millay became the first woman to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.
The Contrary Journalist: Lady Elizabeth Rigby Eastlake
One of the sharpest female journalists of Britain’s Victorian era, Eastlake considered Jane Eyre an exercise in rudeness and vulgarity.
Christine Quintasket
Better known by the pen name Mourning Dove, Quintasket was a leader and activist who used her position as a public intellectual to fight for Colville rights.
’Twas Thrilling When Trilling Wrote a Blurb
The renowned literary critic famously withheld his imprimatur from the books of peers and students, with two notable exceptions. What do they reveal?
Remembering Gwendolyn MacEwen
The Canadian poet was inspired by everything from Ancient Egyptian mythology to folk magic, from Gnosticism to global politics.
Was This Book the Original Eat, Pray, Love?
Letters Written During a Short Residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark was arguably the most popular book ever written by Mary Wollstonecraft.
J. R. R. Tolkien’s Jewish Dwarves
The peoples of Middle Earth weren’t just a product of Tolkien’s creative mind; they were shaped by the anti-Jewish culture that surrounded him.
That Time Jean-Paul Sartre Got High on Mescaline
The French existentialist got more than he bargained for when he went in search of drug-induced inspiration for his philosophical writings.