Books & Literary Life
Literary criticism, author interviews, and book culture from within and beyond Harvard.
America’s Past, Opera's Future: 11 New Books from Harvard Authors
These newly released novels, histories, and memoirs grapple with identity in all its forms.
Frank Bidart wins the 2017 National Book Award for poetry
Five other Harvardians were also honored by the National Book Foundation.
E.E. Cummings and Samuel Beck—a Harvard undergraduate recollection
What one undergraduate learned
Harvard classicist Richard Thomas on Bob Dylan
In a new book, classicist Richard Thomas explores Bob Dylan’s literary ties to ancient Greece and Rome.
Brief life of Guy Davenport, a polymathic stylist
Brief life of a polymathic stylist: 1927-2005
Excerpt from “The Wine Lover’s Daughter” by Anne Fadiman
Anne Fadiman ’74 recalls her father, Clifton, in an excerpt from The Wine Lover’s Daughter
Found in Translation
Maureen Freely ’74, longtime translator of Orhan Pamuk, shares the nuances of bringing a text from one language to another.
by Oset Babür
Recent books with Harvard connections
Recent books with Harvard connections
Harvard professor Stephanie Burt on becoming co-poetry editor at “The Nation”
Stephanie Burt ’94 is the kind of poetry critic who provokes anger in other poetry critics.
"Bunk" review: Kevin Young surveys American culture, from circuses to con men
From the Missouri Compromise to the 2016 election, Kevin Young's Bunk takes stock of American hoaxes, con men, and race fantasies.
by Niela Orr
Chapter and verse quotation-citation correspondence site
Correspondence on not-so-famous lost words