As a teenager #VladimirNabokov (b. April 22, 1899) engaged in some politics, some writing – and spent a lot of time at the cinema. @jackewilson.bsky.social talks to Luke Parker about this period of Nabokov's life, as explored in Nabokov Noir. #books #literature @cornellupress.bsky.social
As we get ready for the HOL first literary tour in England, we revisit some past interviews with special guests!@jackewilson.bsky.social talks to Will Tosh, Director of Research at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, about his book Straight Acting: The Hidden Queer Lives of William Shakespeare. #books
“… no two things can possibly be more distinct from each other [than greatness and goodness], for greatness consists in bringing all manner of mischief on mankind, and goodness in removing it from them.”
Henry Fielding #BOTD, “The History of the Life of the Late Mr Jonathan Wild the Great”
Book cover. Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling
Author portrait. Henry Fielding
“At length my friend was removed from me, and I was again left to my solitude, to the tormenting conversation with my own reflections, and to apply to books for my only comfort. I now read almost all day long."
– Henry Fielding #botd
#books #literature #novels #henryfielding
Book cover. Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre
Author portrait. Charlotte Brontë
"I am no bird; and no net ensnares me; I am a free human being, with an independent will; which I now exert to leave you."
– Charlotte Brontë
#botd #books #literature #novels #charlottebrontë
"It was horror at the bloody deed which had just been committed, which passed out beside them. The bright morning came and revealed to the light what had been begun in the hours of darkness."
– E.T.A. Hoffmann, "Mademoiselle de Scudéri"
#books #literature @reaktionbooks.bsky.social
For more about Pessoa, take a listen to @jackewilson.bsky.social's conversation with Bartholomew Ryan, author of Fernando Pessoa: A Critical Life.
#books #biography @reaktionbooks.bsky.social
"When a man gives himself up to the government of a ruling passion, or, in other words, when his hobby-horse grows headstrong, farewell cool reason and fair discretion!"
– Laurence Sterne, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman
#books #literature @academic.oup.com
For more about Mansfield, take a listen to @jackewilson.bsky.social's conversation with author Gerri Kimber. #books #literature #katherinemansfield @reaktionbooks.bsky.social
“He found all things come back to the question of what he personally might have been, how he might have led his life and 'turned out,' if he had not so, at the outset, given it up.”
– Henry James, The Jolly Corner
#botd #henryjames #novels #books #literature
#AWP27 Event Proposals are now open! If anyone is looking for a seasoned panelist, drop me a line. Perhaps a #horror panel at #AWP? My novel, Chicano Frankenstein, has been optioned by a major studio and under development with a producer.
awpwriter.secure-platform.com/applications...
Book image. Noah Webster on the title page of the 1828 first edition of the American Dictionary of the English Language
Book image. From the title page of the 1828 first edition of the American Dictionary of the English Language, by Noah Webster
April 14, 1828. Noah Webster published the first American Dictionary of the English Language, containing 70,000 entries. #otd #books #dictionary #englishlanguage
📚🎉 Celebrating Eudora Welty—Mississippi’s own master of literature and brilliant photographer—on what would have been her 117th birthday.
Want to read more about Welty and her work? Start here with our reading list.
buff.ly/aQK6QoL
#EudoraWelty #MississippiWriters #LiteraryLegacy #ReadingList
What a way to end publication day! For the Guardian, I’ve written a piece on navigating the weird and wonderful word of Muriel Spark.
Read it, and do give my book a read, too.
LIKE A CAT LOVES A BIRD: THE NINE LIVES OF MURIEL SPARK is out right now! 🐈⬛
www.theguardian.com/books/2026/a...
@jackewilson.bsky.social talks to author Eileen Sperry about her book This Body of Death: Form and Decay in Early Modern Lyric, which examines how the lyric poetry of Shakespeare and his contemporaries shaped our understanding of what it means to be mortal. #books @cornellupress.bsky.social
…he wanted to name names to make the satire more pointed, but the result 300 years later is satire with footnotes, which as your students note, drains it of the very thing Swift was hoping to insert (the “bite”).
This is good insight. One of the questions I have for my guest is whether Swift’s general satire (against universal topics like hypocrisy or bluster) is outweighed by specific satire (eg, a bill then pending in Parliament). Swift thought general satire wasn’t biting enough…
Book cover. Charles Baudelaire, The Flowers of Evil. Translated by Aaron Poochigian. Introduction by Dana Gioia. Afterword by Daniel Handler
"It is Death that consoles—yea, and causes our lives;
'Tis the goal of this Life—and of Hope the sole ray,
Which like a strong potion enlivens and gives
Us the strength to plod on to the end of the day."
– Charles Baudelaire #botd
#books #poetry #literature
That's fascinating. Have you been able to determine why that is?
Book cover. The Poems of Aemilia Lanyer
Author portrait. Aemilia Lanyer
In Episode 791, @jackewilson.bsky.social takes a look at Aemilia Lanyer (1569-1645), the first Englishwoman to publish a volume of poetry, the protofeminist Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum (1611). #books #literature #poetry
Thanks Daniel and nice to meet you Matthew. (Stay tuned - we have some more Swift coming up soon. 🙂)
For more about this beautifully written book, take a listen to @jackewilson.bsky.social's conversation with author Megan Marshall, who wrote the forward to Three Roads Back. @princetonupress.bsky.social #books #literature #biography
“In Flaubert and Beckett…we encounter a regular antipathy toward proliferation or excess in the abstract—but also toward the prospect of bringing life into the world in particular.” —an interview with Aaron Matz
I'm recording all of these. Love James Garner but this little stretch is really going to test that. (But Tony Randall and Kim Novak too? How can I resist?)
#ComingUpOnTCM
BOYS' NIGHT OUT (1962) Kim Novak, James Garner, Tony Randall
Dir.: Michael Gordon 3:00 AM PT
A psychology student researches infidelity by becoming a platonic housekeeper for four buddies.
1h 55m | Comedy | TV-PG
#TCM #TCMParty
Happy Easter everyone. Hope you've been enjoying the long weekend. What's more Easter themed than our latest episode on Chicano Frankenstein? (This announcement has not been written by AI).
open.spotify.com/episode/7q32...
The HOL inaugural literary tour in England begins on May 6! Check out the blog post for more details about the tour and the list of scheduled guests! @jackewilson.bsky.social #literarytour
Excited to receive my author copies of Henry VI Part 1 out later this month!
Hear @oldfortunatus.bsky.social and me discussing the play and my introduction today at 6pm BST @engfac.bsky.social
english.web.ox.ac.uk/event/englis...
In “new batches of letters to fellow women writers,” we see “[Virginia] Woolf’s pleasure in laughter and silliness...and the charm she poured into those friendships.” —Hermione Lee
Always fun talking to @joukovsky.bsky.social . Check out her new novel! (And Go Blue!)