Gene Wolfe Was the Proust of Science Fiction
Out of the trauma of war, Wolfe found redemption in Catholicism and his voice in futuristic, philosophical novels.
Literature
A Series of Selves
How Virginia Woolf’s diaries chronicle the push and pull of her private and public lives.
Naipaul and the World
Criticized as cruel and self-centered, V.S. Naipaul insisted on confronting the hard realities of post-colonial life.
The Paradoxical Politics of Literary Criticism
How did literary scholarship take a leftward turn during the 1970s, when neoliberalism and austerity were ascendant?
What Happened to the Nobel Prize in Literature?
The prize has undergone a distinct change in recent years, opting for best-selling writers and rock stars.
Fairytales Punish the Curious
How Angela Carter escaped a puritanical childhood and stifling marriage, and reimagined sexuality.
The Big Short
Sarah Manguso's aphorisms feel powerful in our age of alternative facts.
Cash for Words: A Brief History of Writing for Money
Money taints everything, why not writing too?
Who Will Win the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature?
Not Bob Dylan, that's for sure.
All Novels Aren’t Political Statements. But They’re Not Apolitical, Either.
What Lionel Shriver got right—and wrong—in her controversial speech about political correctness in literature.
Witness Tampering
Nobel laureate Svetlana Alexievich crafts myths, not histories.
The Evil Magician Casts a Spell
Donald Trump's eerie likeness to Thomas Mann's Mussolini parable.
Cynthia Ozick’s Critical Mass
For more than thirty years, Ozick has led the way in affirming the role and responsibility of the critic.
Does Literary Criticism Have a Grade Inflation Problem?
Lit Hub's new ratings site exposes the flaws in the wider culture.
How Literature Became Word Perfect
Before the word processor, perfect copy was the domain of the typist—not the literary genius.
Why Are There So Many Writers in Myanmar’s New Government?
President Htin Kyaw is hardly the only bookish official in the country.
The Irish Rebellion That Resonated in Harlem
Black intellectuals expressed solidarity with the Easter Rising revolt against British rule.
Where’s Literature’s Class Diversity?
For writers, socioeconomic class is still hard to talk about.
Don't Let Men Attack Pumpkin Spice Literature
Marlon James's recent comments on white women as literary gatekeepers are misguided.
Who Will Win the Nobel Prize for Literature?
If Bob Dylan wins, I will eat my copy of "Blood on the Tracks"
