Literature | smithsonianmag.comhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/rss/tag/literature/RSS feed for LiteratureenFri, 30 Oct 2026 18:34:14 +0000Manga Are Black, White and Read All Over. Treasures of the Globally Popular Japanese Comic Book Medium Are on View in New Yorkhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/manga-are-black-white-and-read-all-over-treasures-of-the-globally-popular-japanese-comic-book-medium-are-on-view-in-new-york-180989788/The Brooklyn Museum's "Art of Manga" exhibition highlights the "mangaka," or creators, who have shaped the medium. Hundreds of original illustrations are making a rare trip to the United StatesFri, 30 Oct 2026 18:34:14 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/manga-are-black-white-and-read-all-over-treasures-of-the-globally-popular-japanese-comic-book-medium-are-on-view-in-new-york-180989788/'Gulliver's Travels' Turns 300 This Week. Jonathan Swift's 'Profound Satire of Human Nature' Is Still Just as Bitingly Relevanthttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/gullivers-travels-turns-300-this-week-jonathan-swifts-profound-satrire-of-human-nature-is-still-just-as-bitingly-relevant-180989777/Since it was first published in October 1726, the novel purporting to tell the fantastical travel tales of Captain Lemuel Gulliver has never left print. An exhibition of rare editions and adaptations in Dublin celebrates Swift's most famous workThu, 29 Oct 2026 18:13:48 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/gullivers-travels-turns-300-this-week-jonathan-swifts-profound-satrire-of-human-nature-is-still-just-as-bitingly-relevant-180989777/As Winnie-the-Pooh Turns 100, the Original Stuffed Toy Remains in New York. Will the Silly Old Bear Ever Return to Britain?https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/as-winnie-the-pooh-turns-100-the-original-stuffed-toy-remains-in-new-york-will-the-silly-old-bear-ever-return-to-britain-180989775/A century after A.A. Milne first published his classic children's tales, British admirers and royal emissaries have made a polite push to bring Christopher Robin's original toys back home, if only for a royal vacationThu, 29 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/as-winnie-the-pooh-turns-100-the-original-stuffed-toy-remains-in-new-york-will-the-silly-old-bear-ever-return-to-britain-180989775/How Astronomers and Art Historians Are Working Together to Identify the Inspiration Behind Famous Works of Arthttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/how-astronomers-art-historians-working-together-identify-inspiration-behind-famous-works-art-180989649/Researchers study paintings and literature to uncover untold history of the works, sometimes finding themselves trying to discern celestial bodies from dustWed, 28 Oct 2026 11:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/how-astronomers-art-historians-working-together-identify-inspiration-behind-famous-works-art-180989649/This Mysterious Medieval Manuscript Has Stumped Scholars for Well Over a Century. Could Its Pages Have Been Bound Out of Order This Whole Time?https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-mysterious-medieval-manuscript-has-stumped-scholars-for-well-over-a-century-could-its-pages-have-been-bound-out-of-order-this-whole-time-180989737/A new study claims that the pages of the Voynich Manuscript, thought to be written by several different scribes in 16th-century Europe, alternate irregularly. It may change the way codebreakers approach the textThu, 22 Oct 2026 20:21:27 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-mysterious-medieval-manuscript-has-stumped-scholars-for-well-over-a-century-could-its-pages-have-been-bound-out-of-order-this-whole-time-180989737/Arthur Conan Doyle Based Sherlock Holmes on a Real-Life Scottish Surgeon Who Used Deduction to Diagnose Patients and Investigate Crimeshttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/arthur-conan-doyle-based-sherlock-holmes-on-a-real-life-scottish-surgeon-who-used-deduction-to-diagnose-patients-and-investigate-crimes-180989623/A new book chronicles the exploits of Joseph Bell, an Edinburgh lecturer whose lessons sparked the creation of the world's most famous detectiveFri, 16 Oct 2026 13:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/arthur-conan-doyle-based-sherlock-holmes-on-a-real-life-scottish-surgeon-who-used-deduction-to-diagnose-patients-and-investigate-crimes-180989623/Canadian Poet Anne Carson Brings Ancient Wisdom to Modern Audiences. Now, She's a Nobel Laureate in Literaturehttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/canadian-poet-anne-carson-brings-ancient-wisdom-to-modern-audiences-now-shes-a-nobel-laureate-in-literature-180989655/The 76-year-old poet, translator and essayist is renowned for her "bold and inventive" approach to blending poetry, prose and everything in between, leading to what the Swedish Academy calls "new forms for contemporary literature"Thu, 08 Oct 2026 18:23:30 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/canadian-poet-anne-carson-brings-ancient-wisdom-to-modern-audiences-now-shes-a-nobel-laureate-in-literature-180989655/From Slasher Films to Vampire Flicks, Horror Movies Are More Popular Than Ever. Relive the Genre's Scariest Moments—if You Dare—at a New Exhibitionhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/from-slasher-films-to-vampire-flicks-horror-movies-are-more-popular-than-ever-relive-the-genres-scariest-momentsif-you-dareat-a-new-exhibition-180989624/The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures' latest show features nearly 350 props, costumes and artifacts from such films as "Psycho," "The Shining" and "Sinners"Thu, 08 Oct 2026 11:45:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/from-slasher-films-to-vampire-flicks-horror-movies-are-more-popular-than-ever-relive-the-genres-scariest-momentsif-you-dareat-a-new-exhibition-180989624/From Boosting Mental Health to Reducing Dementia Risk, Here's Why Reading Is Extremely Good for You, According to Sciencehttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/from-boosting-mental-health-to-reducing-dementia-risk-heres-why-reading-is-extremely-good-for-you-according-to-science-180989548/Mounting evidence suggests that regularly cozying up with a book can increase brain and mental health, improve literacy and math skills, and even slow cognitive decline. What's more, fiction seems to have the added benefit of introducing readers to others' perspectivesWed, 23 Sep 2026 16:33:51 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/from-boosting-mental-health-to-reducing-dementia-risk-heres-why-reading-is-extremely-good-for-you-according-to-science-180989548/A Researcher Studying in a Dutch Library Was Amazed to Discover a Scrap of Parchment From a 1,700-Year-Old Copy of ‘The Odyssey’https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-researcher-studying-in-a-dutch-library-was-amazed-to-discover-a-scrap-of-parchment-from-a-1700-year-old-copy-of-the-odyssey-180989524/The handwritten fragment contains Greek verses from Book 12 of Homer’s epic, in which King Odysseus recounts the fate of his doomed crewMon, 21 Sep 2026 14:15:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-researcher-studying-in-a-dutch-library-was-amazed-to-discover-a-scrap-of-parchment-from-a-1700-year-old-copy-of-the-odyssey-180989524/Designers and Computer Scientists Create New Decoy Fonts That Humans Can Read but A.I. Bots Cannothttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/designers-and-computer-scientists-create-new-decoy-fonts-that-humans-can-read-and-ai-bots-cannot-180989470/To prevent the trawling and theft of human writing, font-makers are employing both old and new illusions to outsmart large language modelsFri, 11 Sep 2026 16:08:08 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/designers-and-computer-scientists-create-new-decoy-fonts-that-humans-can-read-and-ai-bots-cannot-180989470/The Life of Agatha Christie, the World’s Best-Selling Novelist, Goes Under the Microscope at the British Libraryhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-life-of-agatha-christie-the-worlds-best-selling-novelist-goes-under-the-microscope-at-the-british-library-180989480/An upcoming London exhibition will explore the breadth of Christie’s ‘remarkable’ experiences through letters, photographs, a typewriter and a replica of her Hawaiian surfboardThu, 10 Sep 2026 17:55:05 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-life-of-agatha-christie-the-worlds-best-selling-novelist-goes-under-the-microscope-at-the-british-library-180989480/