British Writers | smithsonianmag.comhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/rss/tag/british-writers/RSS feed for British WritersenWed, 06 May 2026 14:07:48 +0000'Lord of the Flies' Comes to Television for the First Time in a New Miniseries. In the 1950s, the Now-Famous Novel Almost Never Got Publishedhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/new-miniseries-brings-lord-of-the-flies-to-television-for-the-first-time-in-the-1950s-the-now-famous-novel-almost-never-got-published-180988684/Publishers rejected the original manuscript for "Lord of the Flies" many times, yet the story still sparks a buzz today. Author William Golding later won the Nobel Prize in LiteratureWed, 06 May 2026 14:07:48 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/new-miniseries-brings-lord-of-the-flies-to-television-for-the-first-time-in-the-1950s-the-now-famous-novel-almost-never-got-published-180988684/Researchers Discovered a Lost Copy of the Oldest English Poem, Composed by an Illiterate Cowherd More Than 1,300 Years Agohttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/researchers-discovered-a-lost-copy-of-the-oldest-english-poem-composed-by-an-illiterate-cowherd-more-than-1300-years-ago-180988644/This version of "Caedmon’s Hymn" shows how Old English evolved. It also features early use of a punctuation mark that readers of English take for granted today—the period—but not in the expected wayThu, 30 Apr 2026 15:39:39 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/researchers-discovered-a-lost-copy-of-the-oldest-english-poem-composed-by-an-illiterate-cowherd-more-than-1300-years-ago-180988644/Shakespeare's House in London Was Lost to History. A Scholar Discovered a Map in the Archives That Revealed Its Exact Locationhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/shakespeares-house-in-london-was-lost-to-history-a-scholar-discovered-a-map-in-the-archives-that-revealed-its-exact-location-180988566/The Bard purchased the property three years before his death in 1616. Had he hoped to spend more time in the city where he wrote his best-known plays?Fri, 17 Apr 2026 18:46:49 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/shakespeares-house-in-london-was-lost-to-history-a-scholar-discovered-a-map-in-the-archives-that-revealed-its-exact-location-180988566/In the 1990s, a Dog Taught Kids About Shakespeare and Homer. A New Documentary Tells the Tale of 'Wishbone'—From His Backflips to His Historical Hatshttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/in-the-1990s-a-dog-taught-kids-about-shakespeare-and-homer-a-new-documentary-tells-the-tale-of-wishbone-from-his-backflips-to-his-historical-hats-180988552/The film reunites the human cast and crew who saw the potential of a Jack Russell terrier to bring classic literature to life on PBSThu, 16 Apr 2026 15:31:11 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/in-the-1990s-a-dog-taught-kids-about-shakespeare-and-homer-a-new-documentary-tells-the-tale-of-wishbone-from-his-backflips-to-his-historical-hats-180988552/