Literature | smithsonianmag.comhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/rss/tag/literature/RSS feed for LiteratureenWed, 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/The Real Winnie-the-Pooh Lives at the New York Public Library. When Queen Camilla Visited the Bear, She Reunited Him With a Dear Friendhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-real-winnie-the-pooh-lives-at-the-new-york-public-library-when-queen-camilla-visited-the-bear-she-reunited-him-with-a-dear-friend-180988661/On a state visit to the United States this week, the queen of the United Kingdom became the first British royal to visit the library as she fulfilled a mission to complete the set of toys that Christopher Robin once ownedFri, 01 May 2026 20:19:47 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-real-winnie-the-pooh-lives-at-the-new-york-public-library-when-queen-camilla-visited-the-bear-she-reunited-him-with-a-dear-friend-180988661/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/Archaeologists Unearth a Papyrus Fragment From the 'Iliad' Tucked Inside the Wrappings of a 1,600-Year-Old Egyptian Mummyhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/archaeologists-unearth-a-papyrus-fragment-from-the-iliad-tucked-inside-the-wrappings-of-a-1600-year-old-egyptian-mummy-180988603/The excerpt from Homer's epic poem features his catalog of ships, a famous passage listing the Greek forces that sailed to Troy. It may be the first Greek literary text found in the context of mummificationThu, 23 Apr 2026 15:07:03 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/archaeologists-unearth-a-papyrus-fragment-from-the-iliad-tucked-inside-the-wrappings-of-a-1600-year-old-egyptian-mummy-180988603/Bob Dylan's Original Typewritten Draft Lyrics for 'I'm Not There' Have Been Rediscovered After More Than Half a Centuryhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/bob-dylans-original-typewritten-draft-lyrics-for-im-not-there-have-been-rediscovered-after-more-than-half-a-century-180988592/For decades, eager fans could only hear the obscure song on bootleg vinyl recordings. The draft lyrics, which were found inside a first-edition copy of Allen Ginsberg poetry, just sold at auction for $6,800Wed, 22 Apr 2026 16:15:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/bob-dylans-original-typewritten-draft-lyrics-for-im-not-there-have-been-rediscovered-after-more-than-half-a-century-180988592/After a Poet’s Love Story Was Cut Short, His Letters Mysteriously Disappeared—Until Rare Book Dealers Acted on a Hunchhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/after-john-keats-love-story-was-cut-short-his-letters-mysteriously-disappeared-until-rare-book-dealers-acted-on-a-hunch-180988585/Eight letters that John Keats penned to his fiancée before his untimely death are “the literary find of a lifetime”Tue, 21 Apr 2026 18:53:06 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/after-john-keats-love-story-was-cut-short-his-letters-mysteriously-disappeared-until-rare-book-dealers-acted-on-a-hunch-180988585/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/Charles Dickens Searched the Streets of London and Found Inspiration for His Evocative Fictionhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/charles-dickens-searched-the-streets-of-london-and-found-inspiration-for-his-evocative-fiction-180988451/A three-part BBC series will examine how real events shaped the 19th-century British author's writing. The show is part of the National Year of Reading in the U.K.Tue, 31 Mar 2026 13:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/charles-dickens-searched-the-streets-of-london-and-found-inspiration-for-his-evocative-fiction-180988451/Does This Skeleton Found Beneath a Dutch Church Belong to D'Artagnan, the Man Who Inspired 'The Three Musketeers'?https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-skeleton-found-beneath-the-floor-of-a-dutch-church-may-belong-to-dartagnan-the-fourth-musketeer-180988448/Workers discovered the skeleton during recent repair work at the church in Maastricht. D'Artagnan died during the siege of the city in 1673Fri, 27 Mar 2026 21:36:20 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-skeleton-found-beneath-the-floor-of-a-dutch-church-may-belong-to-dartagnan-the-fourth-musketeer-180988448/