From Didion to Hesiod: The Center Will Not Hold
Hesiod's poem reminds us that in the end, we must all make sense of our works and days, with the help of—or in spite of—the stories in our heads.
The Many Afterlives of Rose Levere
Thespian, lawyer, Freemason, spiritualist, and much more, Levere tackled one frontier after another, determined to show the public just what she could do.
Donald Goines, Detroit’s Crime Writer Par Excellence
The writer used hard-boiled fiction as a wide lens to accurately capture the widescreen disparity of Black life in the 1970s.
Stephen Crane vs. The Police
When the author tried to defend a woman from charges of solicitation, and then testified against the arresting officer, the NYPD struck back.
Emily Brontë’s Lost Second Novel
The author of the English literary classic Wuthering Heights died tragically young, leaving her second novel unfinished.
Sophia Thoreau to the Rescue!
Who made sure Henry David Thoreau's works came out after his death? His sister.
Ernest Hemingway and Gender Fluidity
Despite his reputation for hypermasculinity, the author was fascinated by different forms of gender expression.
Spectra: The Poetry Movement That Was All a Hoax
In the experimental world of modernist poetry, literary journals were vulnerable to fake submissions.
Zora Neale Hurston
In a controversial letter, the versatile author expressed frustration with critics of segregation.