Literature | smithsonianmag.comhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/rss/tag/literature/RSS feed for LiteratureenFri, 11 Sep 2026 16:08:08 +0000Designers 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/'Odyssey' Translator Emily Wilson Is Starting Over After Calling Christopher Nolan's Blockbuster Film 'Abysmal'https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/emily-wilson-will-completely-re-translate-homers-odyssey-after-calling-christopher-nolan-blockbuster-film-abysmal-180989423/Nearly a decade after her acclaimed first translation was released, Wilson is taking a fresh approach to Homer's ancient Greek epicMon, 31 Aug 2026 16:21:17 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/emily-wilson-will-completely-re-translate-homers-odyssey-after-calling-christopher-nolan-blockbuster-film-abysmal-180989423/A New Statue Honors 'Moby-Dick' Author Herman Melville in the Massachusetts City Where His Whaling Adventures Beganhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-new-statue-honors-moby-dick-author-herman-melville-in-the-massachusetts-city-where-his-whaling-adventures-began-180989388/The 7.5-foot-tall bronze artwork stands in the heart of historic New Bedford, the 19th-century whaling port that inspired the author's famous 1851 novelTue, 25 Aug 2026 17:57:22 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-new-statue-honors-moby-dick-author-herman-melville-in-the-massachusetts-city-where-his-whaling-adventures-began-180989388/You Can Now See One of the Oldest Surviving Copies of 'The Odyssey' at the Metropolitan Museum of Arthttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/you-can-now-see-one-of-oldest-surviving-copies-of-the-odyssey-at-metropolitan-museum-of-art-180989360/The papyrus fragment contains three lines that don't appear in standard modern-day translations of Homer's epic poemWed, 19 Aug 2026 13:19:26 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/you-can-now-see-one-of-oldest-surviving-copies-of-the-odyssey-at-metropolitan-museum-of-art-180989360/This Library Book Was 150 Years Overdue. Fortunately for the Man Who Just Returned It, Librarians Won't Be Enforcing a $20,000 Late Feehttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-library-book-was-150-years-overdue-fortunately-for-the-man-who-just-returned-it-librarians-wont-be-enforcing-a-20000-late-fee-180989339/"The Antiquities of Athens" had likely been missing from an Australian library since the 1870s. Staffers say its recovery is "an unlikely story of survival (of the book) and redemption (of the borrower)"Fri, 14 Aug 2026 11:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-library-book-was-150-years-overdue-fortunately-for-the-man-who-just-returned-it-librarians-wont-be-enforcing-a-20000-late-fee-180989339/The History of the Beach Read, From 19th-Century 'Moral Debasement' to BookTokhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/the-history-of-the-beach-read-from-19th-century-moral-debasement-to-booktok-180989238/The still-popular genre got its start 150 years ago, when publishers profited off the rise of travel in the United States during an otherwise slow publishing seasonMon, 03 Aug 2026 14:22:30 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/the-history-of-the-beach-read-from-19th-century-moral-debasement-to-booktok-180989238/It's Nature vs. Culture as Europeans Vote on New Designs for Euro Banknotes That Pit Kingfishers Against Leonardo da Vincihttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/its-nature-versus-culture-as-europeans-vote-on-new-designs-for-euro-banknotes-that-pit-kingfishers-against-leonardo-da-vinci-180989193/The European Central Bank released a shortlist of ten potential designs for a new series of printed banknotes, the first complete redesign since the Euro note was issued in 2002.Fri, 24 Jul 2026 20:41:16 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/its-nature-versus-culture-as-europeans-vote-on-new-designs-for-euro-banknotes-that-pit-kingfishers-against-leonardo-da-vinci-180989193/