How Longfellow woke the dead
According to Jill Lepore, Longfellow’s much-maligned “Paul Revere’s Ride,” published the day South Carolina seceded from the Union, “was read at the time as a call to arms, rousing northerners to action.”
According to Jill Lepore, Longfellow’s much-maligned “Paul Revere’s Ride,” published the day South Carolina seceded from the Union, “was read at the time as a call to arms, rousing northerners to action.”
The human brain’s readiness to imagine “objects with certain characteristics, such as flimsiness and movement … has always been exploited by successful literary artists.” Emma Garman on Dreaming By the Book (and other critics on neglected faves).
The second season of Chapters, the reading series I curate for Girls Write Now, begins this Friday, March 25, when our delightful first guest, writer and mentor Emma Straub, reads from her new story collection, Other People We Married. Join us at 6 p.m. at the historic John Street Church (no affiliation). Coming up: Anna North, America Pacifica, on April . . .
On a fine spring day a couple years ago, I met Michael Bierut for lunch at the Century Association. It was my first visit, and for once in my life I arrived early. After offering up my coat, I stood off to the side of the grand entryway, trying to pretend I knew what to do with my hands. Michael . . .