By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) We could write thousands of words as part of a T. S. Eliot biography, but instead we’ll limit ourselves to a reasonably short piece that distils all of the most interesting aspects of Eliot’s life into one relatively brief post. What follows, then, is a very short guide to … Read more
The most interesting things about literary classics we learnt from the new QI book Here at Interesting Literature we’re fans of the BBC TV show QI, hosted by Stephen Fry and created by John Lloyd, the producer of such British comedy classics as Blackadder and Spitting Image. We’re lucky enough to count the makers of the programme among our Twitter friends, and … Read more
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) What happens in Beowulf, the jewel in the crown of Anglo-Saxon poetry? The title of the poem is probably the most famous thing about it – that, and the fact that a monster named Grendel features at some point. But because the specific details of the story are not … Read more
Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway was published on this day, 14 May, in 1925. In honour of this, we thought we’d offer a few little facts about this novel, and about Woolf herself. The action of the book takes place over just one day – a ‘moment of June’ in 1923 – although there are flashbacks to … Read more
Fascinating trivia about classic children’s books and their authors Below we’ve compiled some of our favourite facts about classic children’s literature. For more fascinating insight into the history of children’s books, we recommend the excellent A History of Children’s Books in 100 Books (British Library). Hans Christian Andersen once stayed at Dickens’s house for five weeks; … Read more
