Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

American Writers

Whaling captured the popular imagination.

The Real-Life Whale That Gave Moby Dick His Name

Mocha Dick had encounters with around 100 ships before he was finally killed

Mark Twain's love of cats pervaded his literature as well as his writing habits.

Mark Twain Liked Cats Better Than People

Who wouldn’t?

U.S. first lady Eleanor Roosevelt attends a meeting of the women's CWA officials at Warrenton, Virginia. January 26, 1934.

Collection of Eleanor Roosevelt’s Writing Captures the First Lady’s Lasting Relevance

On the 133rd anniversary of her birth, “ER“‘s influence lives on

Cool Finds

Hemingway’s Earliest Piece of Fiction Discovered

The phony travelogue describes a trip from his home in Illinois across the Atlantic to Ireland and Scotland

Portrait of a Civil War soldier group, circa 1861-65.

The Most ‘Realistic’ Civil War Novel Was Written Three Decades After It Ended

By an author who wasn’t even alive when it occurred

Kurt Vonnegut in a 1990 portrait

You Can Now Read Five Newly Discovered Kurt Vonnegut Short Stories

Written early in the author’s careers, the works were recently unearthed in his archives

Upton Sinclair ran a partisan newspaper as part of his campaign for California governor.

The Story of Muckraker Upton Sinclair’s Dramatic Campaign for Governor of California

Sinclair was as famous in his day as any movie-star candidate who came later

Hemingway in Cuba.

How Mary Hemingway and JFK Got Ernest Hemingway’s Legacy Out of Cuba

1961, the year Hemingway died, was a complicated year for U.S.-Cuba relations

This 1962 photo shows author Flannery O'Connor in the driveway at Andalusia in Georgia.

Georgia College Gifted Farm Where Flannery O’Connor Composed Southern Gothic

The author’s alma mater will take over and maintain the Savannah-born author’s final home

Maurice Sendak signing prints from "The Mother Goose Collection" in 1990.

Forgotten Children’s Book by Maurice Sendak Will Be Published in 2018

The “Where the Wild Things Are” author collaborated on the manuscript with long-time friend Arthur Yorinks

Baum produced a stage version of his children's book two years after it came out. This work was aimed primarily for adults, and was the first time the Tin Woodman was referred to as the Tin Man.

The Tin Man Is a Reminder of L. Frank Baum’s Onetime Oil Career

Baum had a number of careers before he hit it big with ‘The Wizard of Oz’

Triple-Face Portrait by Sylvia Plath, c. 1950-1951

The Whimsical, Chameleon-Like Figure Behind the Myth of Sylvia Plath

Today, visions of a life marked by mental illness endure, but the author had a light side—and a knack for savvy image control

Thoreau kept—and illustrated—journals throughout his lifetime.

Cool Finds

Snoop Inside Thoreau’s Journals at This New Exhibition

It’s your chance to get up-close and personal with the philosopher-poet’s possessions

Edith Wharton circa 1900. Her play "The Shadow of a Doubt" didn't make it to the stage in 1901—but has finally been rediscovered by scholars.

Cool Finds

Scholars Rediscover Forgotten Edith Wharton Play

“The Shadow of a Doubt” had been overshadowed by over 100 years of history

What Does Thoreau’s Walden Pond Look Like Today?

Photographer S.B. Walker captures the pond’s eternal glow

Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson Was Fiercer Than You Think

A new biopic shows the poet as more than a mysterious recluse

The Featured Works display at the American Writers Museum in Chicago.

America’s First Writers Museum Is Slated to Open in May

A new home for celebrating American literary titans, titles and traditions takes root in Chicago

Most players of “Walden” go straight to survival tasks, admits Fullerton.

Can a Video Game Capture the Magic of Walden?

Henry David Thoreau’s famed retreat gets pixelated

Channel Parker's vicious wit in the coat she wore for decades.

Cool Finds

Fans of Dorothy Parker Can Pay to Wear Her Mink Coat

It’s all in the name of preservation

This photograph of Abigail Scott Dunway features the words "Yours for Liberty,"—the phrase she always used when she signed her name.

Cool Finds

This Hell-Raising Suffragist’s Name Will Soon Grace an Oregon Hotel

Abigail Scott Duniway staged a lifelong fight for women’s rights

Page 9 of 16