Interesting Literature
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A page celebrating all that is most interesting about literature, the world of books, authors, and related matters. A mini-library of literary interestingness.
Interesting Literature
1w ago
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) ‘The Crazy Woman’ is a poem by the American poet Gwendolyn Brooks (1917-2000). It was published in her 1960 collection The Bean Eaters. In the poem, a self-described ‘crazy woman’ announces her determination to sing as she pleases, however controversial her song might be or however unacceptable society may ... Read more ..read more
Interesting Literature
3w ago
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) Throughout various cultures and in numerous literary and mythological traditions, the butterfly represents life. In a range of ways, butterflies symbolise the life spirit, long life, or even the ability to be reborn. This last one needn’t surprise us when we stop to observe that a butterfly is a ... Read more ..read more
Interesting Literature
1M ago
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) The most successful and satisfying period of H. G. Wells’s long writing career ran from around 1894 – something of an annus mirabilis for him and the short story – until around 1904, when The Food of the Gods appeared. But there are some gems to be found after ... Read more ..read more
Interesting Literature
1M ago
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) The Ukrainian-born Brazilian novelist and short-story writer Clarice Lispector (1920-77) has not had as much attention as her fellow titans of South American literature, Jorge Luis Borges and Gabriel García Márquez. But her short stories are often dazzlingly inventive and, like the best of Borges, carry the force of ... Read more ..read more
Interesting Literature
1M ago
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) What connects the tiger with Voldemort and with the alchemical metal of lead? Was Winnie the Pooh friends with a tiger or not? Let’s delve into the fascinating and rich history of tigerish symbolism, covering poetry, mythology, and much else. It was Alexander the Great who introduced many Europeans ... Read more ..read more
Interesting Literature
2M ago
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) The English novelist, poet, essayist, and Christian apologist Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936) is revered by many readers – and fellow writers – for his wit, his insight into human nature, and his brilliant storytelling. His Father Brown stories are often compared with Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes tales, while he ... Read more ..read more
Interesting Literature
2M ago
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) The writer A. M. Burrage once claimed that he wished ‘to give the reader a pleasant shudder, in the hope that he will take a lighted candle to bed with him’. But in fact, his ghost stories – a selection of which was published in a handsome edition by ... Read more ..read more
Interesting Literature
2M ago
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) ‘A Vision of Judgment’ was first published in Butterfly in September 1899. The tale is a light and humorous piece about the Day of Judgment, when all of humankind – including the dead – are summoned to appear before God and be judged for their sins and their good ... Read more ..read more
Interesting Literature
2M ago
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) was a Lebanese-American poet who is best-known for one book of poetry: The Prophet. This 1923 book is one of the bestselling books of all time: indeed, Gibran is usually named as one of the three biggest-selling poets of all time, behind Shakespeare and Lao-Tzu. Born ... Read more ..read more
Interesting Literature
3M ago
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) The American-born poet, playwright, and critic T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) is one of the most important and influential writers of the twentieth century. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Eliot was educated at Harvard before moving to Britain, where he settled, becoming a UK citizen in 1927. Eliot is best-known ... Read more ..read more