Books & Literary Life

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

Open Book: A New Nuclear Age

Harvard historian Serhii Plokhy’s latest book looks at the rising danger of a new arms race.

Stephen Owen translates the complete works of Chinese poet Du Fu into English

Conant University Professor Stephen Owen spent 10 years translating the poet’s 1,400 surviving poems.

by Jonathan Shaw

Harvard alumna teaches humanities at West Point

Elizabeth D. Samet ’91 melds literature and leadership in her classes for the cadets.

by John S. Rosenberg

Jerome Groopman guides Harvard students to insights from narratives of illness

The students in Jerome Groopman’s “Insights from Narratives of Illness” wrestle with the profound.

by Lydialyle Gibson

Toni Morrison speaks at Harvard, on slavery and "the literature of belonging"

The distinguished writer delivered the first of six lectures on slavery, racism, and “the literature of belonging.”

by Sophia Nguyen

Ross Gay Finds the Right Ground at the Radcliffe Institute

What “unabashed gratitude” means for a black poet

by Lydialyle Gibson

E.O. Wilson on mammalian evolution

E.O. Wilson on why the human species ought to be a little humble

Harvard alumni musicians Damon Krukowski and Naomi Yang are profiled

The many pursuits of musicians Damon & Naomi

by Lydialyle Gibson

Chapter and verse quotation-citation correspondence site

Correspondence on not-so-famous lost words

Recent books with Harvard connections

Recent books with Harvard connections

Susan Dunn reviews Jefferson biography by Annette Gordon-Reed and Peter S. Onuf

Thomas Jefferson's “fractal” view of American self-governance

by Susan Dunn