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American Writers

Langston Hughes' epic poem, Ask Your Mama: 12 Moods for Jazz is the text for the piece performed by Jessye Norman, among others.

A Jazzed-Up Langston Hughes

A long-forgotten poem about the African-American experience is given new life in a multimedia performance

Gertrude Stein is an American writer who made her home in Paris, France. Her first book was published in 1909 but her autobiography, titled The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, was the only one to reach a wide audience.

Literary Landmarks: A History of American Women Writers

Author Elaine Showalter discusses the lasting influence of Harriet Beecher Stowe and why Gertrude Stein is overrated

Barbara Ehrenreich, author of "Up Close at Carnival."

Barbara Ehrenreich on “Up Close at Carnival”

Barbara Ehrenreich on “Up Close at Carnival”

Pulitzer Prize-winning author N. Scott Momaday operates the Buffalo Trust, a nonprofit organization working to preserve Native cultures.

N. Scott Momaday and the Buffalo Trust

Pulitzer Prize-winning author and Kiowa Indian N. Scott Momaday runs a nonprofit organization working to preserve Native cultures

John Hodgman, the author of "More Information Than You Require," is a preeminent authority on fake trivia.

John Hodgman Gives “More Information Than You Require”

John Hodgman, best recognized as the “PC” in the Apple advertising campaign, discusses how humans distinguish fact from falsehood

Author of "Banner Days," Robert Poole.

Robert Poole on “Banner Days”

Smithsonian magazine staff writer and author of "One Man's Korean War."

Abigail Tucker on “One Man’s Korean War”

Amid the city’s ribbons of freeway and corporate spires, says the author, the sky offers "a huge, open relief."

Southern Comfort

Celebrated poet Mark Doty succumbs to Houston’s humid charms

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Stephen Kinzer on “Inside Iran’s Fury”

In a "city of neighborhoods," Johnson found "an ideal environment for nurturing innovation, individualism and the creative spirit."

In Seattle, a Northwest Passage

He arrived unsure of what to expect—but the prolific author quickly embraced Seattle’s energizing diversity

Arthur Allen

Arthur Allen on “A Passion for Tomatoes”

Rick Perlstein

Rick Perlstein on “Parties to History”

Alonzo Hamby.

Alonzo Hamby on “Parties to History”

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Interview with Leigh Montville

The sportswriter discusses John Montague’s fabled antics and how the man changed golf

Author Joan Acocella

My Kind of Town: New York

Why do New Yorkers seem rude? A noted critic and essayist has a few ideas

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Urbane Renewal

Claire Messud, the best-selling author of The Emperor’s Children, discovers the grown-up pleasures of her adolescent playground

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Sound and Fury

Norman Mailer’s anger and towering ego propelled-and undermined-his prodigious output

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At Home. For Now

The acclaimed novelist probes our yearning for a fixed address

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Hill of Beans

For author Julia Alvarez and her husband, starting an organic coffee plantation was a wake-up call

“The more race is not supposed to matter, the more it does,” says Packer (in her home office in Pacifica, California). “It’s one of the conundrums of living in America today.” She is currently working on a historical novel titled The Thousands, about the “forgotten masses of blacks who went West.”

Comedienne of Manners

Novelist ZZ Packer uses humor to point up some disconcerting signposts along America’s racial divide

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