Marianne Moore, 1935

Marianne Moore: Master Mentor

A widely published poet with deep editorial experience, Moore turned out to be the perfect mentor for a Vassar student named Elizabeth Bishop
Hilda Doolittle, 1921

Remembering H.D.

Hilda Doolittle, aka H.D., had her champions among modern scholars, but she's still often left off modern poetry course syllabi.
Das Vogelkonzert (The Bird Concert) by Jan Brueghel the Younger, c. 1640-1645

Every Good Bird Does Fine

Is birdsong music, speech, or something else altogether? The question has raged for millennia, drawing in everyone from St. Augustine to Virginia Woolf.
Ernest Hemingway at the Finca Vigia, Cuba 1946

Ernest Hemingway and Gender Fluidity

Despite his reputation for hypermasculinity, the author was fascinated by different forms of gender expression.
Illustration by Arthur Rackham

Sick Party!

The party as site of contagion in Edgar Allan Poe, Evelyn Waugh, and Ling Ma.
Walter Benn Michaels

Walter Benn Michaels: What’s His Deal?

The literary critic Walter Benn Michaels challenges the prevailing trends of postmodernist theory.
Jeremy Irons in Steven Soderbergh's "Kafka."

Franz Kafka’s The Trial—It’s Funny Because It’s True

Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you.
Leonardo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan in The Great Gatsby, 2013

What The Great Gatsby Reveals About The Jazz Age

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel embraced jazz, while also falling prey to the racist caricatures associated with it.
Four young men in trendy clothes take a selfie while out partying

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.
Taylor Swift Credit: Taylor Swift/Vevo

Taylor Swift: 1989’s Confessional Poet

Since she first came to prominence, Taylor Swift's songs have been read autobiographically.