Charles Chesnutt

The Ghosts of Slavery in Charles Chesnutt’s Fiction

What begins as a magical escape from the horrors of plantation life soon turns into a spine-chilling testament to slavery’s dehumanizing effects.
why US states have straight borders

Why Are U.S. Borders Straight Lines?

The ever-shifting curve of shoreline and river is no match for the infinite, idealized straight line.
Gone with the Wind poster

The Dangers of Gone With The Wind‘s Romantic Vision of the Old South

Writer Margaret Mitchell was born on November 8th, 1900, at the beginning of a new century. Her novel Gone ...
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. 
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?
"Bill Styron in his West Chop writing room on Martha's Vineyard - August 1989" by Williamwaterway - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bill_Styron_in_his_West_Chop_writing_room_on_Martha%27s_Vineyard_-_August_1989.jpg#/media/File:Bill_Styron_in_his_West_Chop_writing_room_on_Martha%27s_Vineyard_-_August_1989.jpg" target="_blank">Wikimedia Commons</a>

Still Visible: William Styron’s Memoir of Madness 25 Years Later

An interview with the daughter of William Styron, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Sophie's Choice.