A Woman’s Life in Publishing
Anita D. McClellan entered the publishing industry as a secretary, one of the few opportunities available to women at the time. We tell her story.
How the King James Bible Influenced American Literature
The King James Bible, the most popular version read worldwide, had a lasting influence on the American literary canon.
On The Cultural Logic of Prizes
Prizes and awards are forms of cultural capital in prestige-making projects.
Read Work From 2015 Nobel Prize Winner in Literature Svetlana Alexievich
Read an excerpt from "War's Womanly Face," a book by the winner of the 2015 Nobel Prize Svetlana Alexievich about female Russian soldiers in World War II.
Linguistic Anarchy! It’s all Pun and Games Until Somebody Loses a Sign
The pun is in an interesting bind: it is both ubiquitous and reviled. We try to understand why.
More Hipster Than Thou: Is Vintage Language Back in Vogue?
A look at the recent boon in archaic terms and its relationship to "hipster" culture.
Read the Poems of “Genius” Grant Recipients Ellen Bryant Voigt & Ben Lerner
We've made available two poems each by Ellen Bryant Voigt and Ben Lerner, 2015 recipients of the MacArthur "Genius" Grant.
The Myth of Henry David Thoreau’s Isolation
The famous writer-observer of nature, Henry David Thoreau, fills the popular imagination. But have we mythologized the image of him as a recluse?
The History of the Poet Laureate
Juan Felipe Herrera is the new U.S. Poet Laureate. It is a position that has had a long life, dating back to the Greeks.
![Pieter Brueghel the Elder (1526/1530–1569) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons](https://daily.jstor.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/TowerofBabel_1050x700-600x400.jpg)
Syllables Without Vowels? Pfft, Inconceivable!
Is the syllable universal? Maybe. We look at how languages use (and don't use) syllables, and what this says about language itself.