Books & Literary Life

Literary criticism, author interviews, and book culture from within and beyond Harvard.

Being Undocumented in America

Karla Cornejo Villavicencio’s writing aims to challenge assumptions. 

by Nina Pasquini

Children's Books from Ann Kim Ha

Ann Kim Ha’s poignant children’s books

by Lydialyle Gibson

Chinese Immigrants in Early America

Michael Luo ’98 on the first great wave of immigration—and of nativist anti-immigrant reaction

The Franklin Stove—A Historical Climate Change Adaptation

Historian Joyce E. Chaplin reinterprets an early era of invention, industrialization, and climate challenge

by Joyce E. Chaplin

Harvard Percussionist and Composer Jessie Cox

An experimental percussionist-composer pushing the limits of music

by Lydialyle Gibson

Abraham Verghese Named Harvard Commencement Speaker

Physician and author will address the graduation exercises May 29.

by John S. Rosenberg

Recent Publications Harvard Authors Spring 2025

Artmaking under duress, designing the UN HQ, Booker White’s blues, and more

The Supreme Court and Mass Incarceration

A legal scholar’s harsh assessment of the Supreme Court’s rulings on crime

by Lincoln Caplan

Leslie Jamison on Isolation, Empathy, and Selfhood

The essayist on isolation, empathy, and selfhood

by Nina Pasquini

Essays from Edward Tenner

Essayist Edward Tenner on technology’s pitfalls

Bill Gates on AI and Innovation

At Harvard, the Microsoft co-founder discusses his biography—and artificial intelligence. 

by Olivia Farrar