Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-94) died young, but in his forty-four years he wrote some of the most enduringly popular and influential novels ever written, as well as a number of perfectly crafted short stories. He also wrote popular poems for children. We have collected some of Stevenson’s best poems in […]
‘The Shawl’ is the best-known and most widely studied short story by the American writer Cynthia Ozick (born 1928). Published in 1980, ‘The Shawl’ is about a Jewish mother and her infant daughter and niece, living in Nazi-occupied Europe during the Second World War. The story contains some very harrowing […]
‘One Thousand Dollars’ is a short story by the US short-story writer O. Henry, whose real name was William Sydney Porter (1862-1910). His stories are characterised by their sentimentality and by their surprise twist endings. Both of these elements became something of a signature feature, and ‘One Thousand Dollars’ contains […]
Poetry can be used to say all sorts of things which affect us deeply: the love we feel for that special someone, or the gratitude we hold for someone who has been there and supported us. And so poems for best friends – best friends forever or ‘BFF’ in particular […]
‘The Mocking-Bird’ is an 1891 short story by the American author Ambrose Bierce, who is also remembered for his witty The Devil’s Dictionary and for his mysterious disappearance in around 1914. ‘The Mocking-Bird’ is a Civil War tale about a soldier who shoots a man while on sentry duty at […]