Poetry
The Woman Who Saved the Statue of Liberty
Georgina Schuyler campaigned for Emma Lazarus' "The New Colossus" to be inscribed on a plaque in the monument's pedestal
Without the First Folio, Half of Shakespeare's Plays Would Have Been Lost to History
The 400-year-old text presented the Bard's plays as serious literature, muddling the boundaries between popular culture and high art
Kitchen Renovation Reveals 400-Year-Old Paintings in English Apartment
The two nine-foot paintings depict scenes from a 17th-century book of poetry
The Brief but Shining Life of Paul Laurence Dunbar, a Poet Who Gave Dignity to the Black Experience
A prolific writer, he inspired such luminaries as Maya Angelou and Langston Hughes
The Making of Emily Brontë
A new film imagines the events that inspired the notoriously private author to write "Wuthering Heights"
This Rare Robert Burns Book Was Discovered in a Barber Shop, Where It Was Used to Clean Razors
The rarely seen copy of the Scottish writer's debut poetry collection is now on display
Smithsonian Scholars Pick Their Favorite Books of 2022
This wide-ranging list offers context for our rapidly changing world
You Can Own a Piece of Forrest Fenn's Treasure
The valuable artifacts, hidden in the Rocky Mountains for more than a decade, are going up for auction
The Forgotten Sisters Who Pioneered the Historical Novel
Jane and Anna Maria Porter ruled Britain's literary scene—until male imitators wrote them out of the story
Meet Ai-Da, the First Robot to Speak Before U.K. Parliament
The robot answered questions about technology, art and consciousness
Ada Limón Is a Poet Laureate for the 21st Century
Her work explores "what it looks like to have America in the room"
You Can Now Play 'EmilyBlaster,' a Video Game Inspired by Emily Dickinson's Poetry
Players assemble poems by shooting at words in the '80s-style adventure
After Long Absence, the Folklife Festival Returns to the National Mall
The much-loved summer event, featuring the United Arab Emirates and Earth Optimism programs, opens with a concert hosted by Yo-Yo Ma
Newly Minted Maya Angelou Quarters Enter Circulation and Make History
Here’s how to find one of the new U.S. quarters—the first to feature a Black woman
How Phillis Wheatley Beat All Expectations
The Revolution-era Boston establishment couldn't believe that the young African American woman wrote the exquisite book of poetry
Groundbreaking Feminist Scholar bell hooks Dies at 69
The prolific American writer shaped a generation of discourse around Black feminism and intersectionality
The Little-Known Recording of Louis Armstrong Reciting 'The Night Before Christmas'
Shortly before he died, the jazz legend offered his own rendition of the classic holiday poem
Before Romeo and Juliet, Paolo and Francesca Were Literature's Star-Crossed Lovers
Centuries after Italian poet Dante published "The Divine Comedy," Romantic artists and writers reimagined the tragedy as a tale of female agency
The Unheralded Women Scribes Who Brought Medieval Manuscripts to Life
A new book by scholar Mary Wellesley spotlights the anonymous artisans behind Europe's richly illuminated volumes
Singer and Artist Solange Debuts Free Library of Rare Books by Black Authors
Readers in the U.S. can borrow 50 titles, including collections of poems by Gwendolyn Brooks and Langston Hughes and a sci-fi novel by Octavia Butler
