Rushdie at Pen America/Free Expression Literature, May 2014. © Ed Lederman/PEN American Center

Is the Fatwa Against Salman Rushdie Real?

$600,000 dollars have been added to the original fatwa against Salman Rushdie. But Khomeini's declaration may not have been a real fatwa after all.
The Portable Veblen, by Elizabeth McKenzie

How Life in the Age of Conspicuous Consumption Can Drive You Nuts

Elizabeth McKenzie's "The Portable Veblen" concerns a character named Veblen, a woman who feels keenly the ideas of the great economist.  
Jaipur Literary Festival

Dispatch from Jaipur Literary Festival 2016: The Greatest Literary Show on Earth

The JLF brings together writers from all over the world for readings, lectures, discussions and celebration at the Diggi Palace in Jaipur, India. 
Abriel Thomas, a cousin of Emmett Till, holds a triptych showing childhood photos of Till in his Chicago home Monday, May 10, 2004, after news that federal authorities are reopening the investigation into the 14-year-old's 1955 race-motivated murder. "I wish Mamie could have been here," Thomas said. "It was the only thing she ever wanted out of life _ a little bit of justice." (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Harper Lee and #BlackLivesMatter

Lee's novel has been criticized for its depictions of race, but the questions it raised continue to resonate in an America where racial animus persists. 
Reporters holding out recording devices and microphones to their subject

The Linguistics of Mass Persuasion Part 2: Choose Your Own Adventure

How politicians use language to manipulate the public and sway them toward particular world-views. 
Cover of English Renaissance Poetry: A Collection of Shorter Poems

Revisiting John Williams, Novelist and Editor

Today marks the publication of English Renaissance Poetry, an anthology of poems selected by the novelist John Williams. 
This March 14, 1963 file photo shows Harper Lee, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, "To kill a Mockingbird." The head of a group for Alabama writers says the new book by Harper Lee will help other state authors. Alabama Writer’s Forum executive director Jeanie Thompson says the attention being given to Lee’s long-awaited second novel reflects on other writers in the state. (AP Photo, File)

To Debate a Mockingbird: The Literary Legacy of Harper Lee

Is To Kill a Mockingbird a literary juggernaut or a failed book?
Image taken from page 5 of 'Sense and Sensibility'

Jane Austen and Adaptation

In The Atlantic on Sunday, Devony Looser discussed the 20-year-old film adaptation of Sense and Sensibility.
Poor Your Soul by Mira Ptacin

Mourning the Baby That Never Was

In Mira Ptacin's, Poor Your Soul, the question is: How does one grieve a baby that never was? These resources may help us know. 
Cover of The Vegetarian

The Lasting Stain of Political Violence: Han Kang’s The Vegetarian

Providing some historical context to Han King's The Vegetarian.