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Literature

One Writer Used Statistics to Reveal the Secrets of What Makes Great Writing

In his new book, data journalist Ben Blatt takes a by-the-numbers look at literary classics and finds some fascinating patterns

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

Theodor Seuss Geisel and Helen Palmer Geisel, his first wife, were both children's book authors, but they never had children.

Dr. Seuss Had an Imaginary Daughter Named Chrysanthemum-Pearl

Theodor Seuss Geisel created the character with his first wife, Helen Palmer Geisel

You won't find "dord" in the dictionary these days, but back in the 1930s, Webster's had a definition for this non-word.

As “Dord” Shows, Being in the Dictionary Doesn’t Always Mean Something’s a Word

Even dictionaries can make mistakes, although Merriam-Webster maintains this is their only one

Five Things to Know About Little Golden Books

What to know as the iconic series of children’s books celebrates 75 years

Lincoln and Jefferson Davis were often portrayed together. Here, Davis is drawn as a Confederate general.

The Illustrator of Alice in Wonderland Also Drew Abraham Lincoln. A Lot

John Tenniel was a well-known editorial cartoonist as well as the man who gave Lewis Carroll’s books their visual charm

Walt Whitman photographed in 1854, two years after his serialized novella was first published anonymously.

A Graduate Student Just Discovered a Lost Work of Fiction by Walt Whitman

The serialized novella was first published anonymously in 1852

One of the first teddy bears has been in the Smithsonian's collection for over a half-century.

Some of the Most Important (and Cutest) Teddy Bear Moments of the Past 114 Years

The American toy was introduced in 1903, and almost immediately made its mark

Mr. Darcy as depicted in a tailored blue Regency-styled suit.

Meet the Historically Accurate Mr. Darcy

A team of experts on fashion and social culture offer their take on Jane Austen’s brooding hero

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

Rachel Carson in 1962.

Rachel Carson Wrote Silent Spring (Partly) Because of the Author of Stuart Little

The book was a turning point for the environmental movement

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

Just call it "the house on Pooh corner."

Cool Finds

The House Where ‘Winnie-the-Pooh’ Was Written Is for Sale

The 9.5-acre estate was once home to Christopher Robin and A.A. Milne

Beatrix Potter Books

How Beatrix Potter Invented Character Merchandising

Faced with rejection, the author found her own path to fame and fortune

Margaret at Stafford House on Cumberland Island, holding her first copy of Fox Eyes, illustrated by Jean Charlot. This story was inspired by her time on Cumberland as a teenager.

The Surprising Ingenuity Behind “Goodnight Moon”

Author Margaret Wise Brown used new theories in childhood education to write the classic children’s book

Samuel Clemens often told stories to his children, but only one has survived.

Cool Finds

New Mark Twain Fairy Tale Unearthed

The previously unknown—and unfinished—story was hiding in plain sight

Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michael Basquiat won the 2017 Randolph Caldecott Medal.

Trending Today

American Librarians Just Chose 2017’s Best Books for Children and Young Adults

Meet the 2017 Newbery, Caldecott and Printz award winners

Edgar Allan Poe as imagined in an 1895 image by Swiss/French printmaker Félix Valloton.

Who Was the Poe Toaster? We Still Have No Idea

In Baltimore, they’re keeping the tradition of visiting Edgar Allan Poe’s grave for his birthday—but without the mystery

Now, writers can find inspiration in the historic library of one of America's most famous authors.

Cool Finds

You Can Write Inside Mark Twain’s Library

Commune with Clemens in his historic home

House and Cedar-Lined Walk in Mist, October 2003

American South

Get Lost in the Landscape That Inspired William Faulkner’s Greatest Novels

A new book of photography brings the late author’s Mississippi homestead to life

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