Literature

Two centuries after Shakespeare's death, a lowly law clerk named William Henry Ireland forged the Bard's signature and a seal that convinced skeptics.

To Be...Or Not: The Greatest Shakespeare Forgery

William-Henry Ireland committed a scheme so grand that he fooled even himself into believing he was William Shakespeare's true literary heir

The new edition of Ernest Hemingway's fictionalized memoir, A Moveable Feast, features adjustments made to the original text that was edited by Hemingway's fourth wife, Mary.

A New Taste of Hemingway’s Moveable Feast

The re-edited version of Ernest Hemingway’s Paris-based memoir sheds new light on the heartbreaking breakup of his first marriage

In the Spoken Word recording, John Steinbeck recounts how he came up with the idea for The Grapes of Wrath.

Voices from Literature’s Past

The British Library’s Spoken Word albums of recordings by British and American writers shed new light on the authors' work

We don't have a town center, Alvarez says, but we're "rich in characters and talents."

Julia Alvarez on Weybridge, VT

Other towns get more attention says novelist Julia Alvarez, but this is a place where things get done

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The Million Word March

What defines a word? Lexicographers and other experts don’t always agree

History's "Global Languages"

Erin Gann as Xerxes and Helen Carey as Atossa in the Shakespeare Theatre Company's production of Aeschylus' "The Persians," a new version by Ellen McLaughlin, directed by Ethan McSweeny.

The Persians Revisited

A 2,500-year-old Greek historical play remains eerily contemporary

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Interview: Eric G. Wilson

Why the pursuit of happiness naturally includes melancholy

A carving of the tale of Gilgamesh

Lost Treasure

In Gilgamesh, scholars unearthed literary gold

Rossetti identified the subject of his Lady Lilith painting as Adam's first wife—"the witch he loved before the gift of Eve." The work (1866-68) was altered in 1872-73 to please patron Frederick Leyland. The original model was Rossetti's lover Fanny Cornforth.

Incurably Romantic

For much of the 20th century, Britain's Pre-Raphaelite were dismissed as overly sentimental. A new exhibition shows why they're back in favor

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Odyssey's End?: The Search for Ancient Ithaca

A British researcher believes he has at last pinpointed the island to which Homer's wanderer returned

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Goya and His Women

An exhibition at Washington's National Gallery of Art takes a fresh look at one of Spain's most celebrated artists and the women he painted

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October Surprise

Any other year, giving reactionary author V. S. Naipaul a Nobel Prize would have sparked debate

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Mister Faulkner Goes to Stockholm

In six years, William Faulkner went from salaried Hollywood script doctor to winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature. How had this miracle occurred?

View of the Orangerie in 1695 as painted by Étienne Allegrain and Jean-Baptiste Martin

A Garden to Defy the Seasons

Enjoy a chapter of a translated fictional account of the Sun King's kitchen gardenerâ—and peek into the intrigues of high society in 17th-century France

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What Good Is a List If You Can't Read It?

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Think of All You'd Miss If Your Reading Skills Weren't 'Enhanced' By Age

Think of all you'd miss if your reading skills weren't 'enhanced' by age

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Making Up for Lost Time: the Rewards of Reading at Last

At the age of 64, a Vermont farmer takes on the demanding task of learning his letters and discovers the new world found in books

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