By Dr Claire Nally, University of Northumbria William Butler Yeats is best known as a poet (he won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923), but he was also novelist, playwright, member of the Irish Literary Revival, manager of the Abbey Theatre, Fenian revolutionary, and Senator in the Irish Free State. He was born in … Read more
By Lisa Beckelhimer, University of Cincinnati Sport is frequently elevated to some higher meaning in American culture. Traditional sports writing, memoirs, and historical accounts can inspire readers. But so can several works of fiction, including Steven Pressfield’s mystical golf novel The Legend of Bagger Vance (1995). An athlete/tortured soul in need of salvation, his angelic or … Read more
In this guest blog post written for the excellent Great Writers Inspire blog, run by the University of Oxford, our founder-editor Dr Oliver Tearle explores the complex history of dystopian fiction. Click on the link below to visit the Great Writers Inspire site and read the blog post, which includes details of the science fiction novel written by … Read more
By Dr Michael Greaney, Lancaster University Imagine a reader – say, a Martian with a library card — whose sole acquaintance with human experience was from books. What picture of human life would this well-read alien carry around in its imagination? And what would be missing from that picture? One area of our creaturely existence … Read more
By Lillie Anne Brown, Florida A&M University The literary work of Ernest J. Gaines intersects history and culture with universal themes of self-respect, human dignity and personal integrity. His novels pay homage to ordinary black citizens who not only deserve respect in their everyday lives but crave it as a matter of order and sensibility. … Read more