10 Common Themes Across Classic Books (Picture Credit – Instagram) Classic literature serves as a timeless window into the human condition, exploring universal themes that resonate with readers across generations and cultures. These books, revered for their profound insights into life, love, and society, often delve into recurring motifs that capture the essence of our…

An influential arts administrator and educator, he was a trusted confidant to countless writers, notably Philip Roth. Joel Conarroe, a celebrated arts administrator and professor who headed the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation for nearly two decades and served as a friend and confidante to a pride of literary lions, including his close friend Philip…

Whether your to-be-read stack is full of classic books or nonexistent, you should know that there are many benefits of reading—and reading physical, printed books has its advantages. There’s nothing like the smell of old books or the crack of a new one’s spine, and it turns out that diving into a page-turner can enrich…

I have spent nearly all my adult life living in foreign countries. That includes working, dating, marrying, and now—parenting abroad. Aside from the potential challenges of language and geography, what it means for a woman to be in a foreign land is to understand and navigate the joys and threats of womanhood particular to another…

As a kid, the only Asian American literature that crossed my path was heavily stylized and historical. Books like Laurence Yep’s “Dragonwings” and Ed Young’s “Lon Po Po” were important, but felt radically different from my own American life in Iowa in the 1990s. My invisibility and illegibility to others were echoed back to me…

CNN  —  The end of April is about to be the busiest week of Lauren Groff’s life. In the span of a few days, the acclaimed author is set to share the stage at New York’s Lincoln Center with Margaret Atwood, where they’ll discuss their books about women in quiet fury and the places that…

After nearly four decades of bringing people together through the shared love of reading, Sundance Books is closing its doors. Located in the historic Levy House built in 1906, the bookstore has been open since 1985. Even as big box stores and e-books became more popular, customers say Sundance was still a place that readers,…

About a year after it was abruptly called off with little explanation, the Asian American Literature Festival will return in September, organized by a collective of literary groups — and this time, without the Smithsonian. Last year, the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center (APAC), which curated and funded the biennial gathering, canceled itjust weeks before…

Bildungsroman novels, a genre that intricately explores the growth from youth to adulthood, have been one of the go-to options for many readers throughout the years. If you’re curious about learning more about this genre, we’ve got you covered! Dive into classic and modern examples, understand key characteristics, and see why these narratives remain impactful…

John Guillory is an award-winning teacher and scholar. His varied and influential work includes  Poetic Authority: Spenser, Milton, and Literary History (Columbia University Press, 1983) and the field-transforming Cultural Capital: The Problem of Literary Canon Formation (University of Chicago Press, 1993). His brilliant new book, Professing Criticism: Essays on the Organization of Literary Study, argues…