By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) was a leading figure in English Romanticism. As well as co-authoring the landmark 1798 collection Lyrical Ballads with his friend William Wordsworth, Coleridge was also a critic of unmatched genius, whose pronouncements on Shakespeare, Romanticism, and the literary imagination remain influential even now.
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
John Keats (1795-1821) is one of the greatest poets in the English language, and one of the most famous Romantic poets. In just a few years prior to his untimely death from tuberculosis, aged just 25, in 1821, Keats wrote some of the most memorable poems about everything from art to autumn to melancholy to sleep and much else in between.
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
Loneliness and alienation are both common themes of literature down the ages, whether it’s the Anglo-Saxon seafarers and wanderers lamenting the passing of their lives, and perhaps a whole way of life, or protagonists of modern novels filled with existential angst and a sense of being cut off from the rest of mankind.
The finest sourced quotes from Christopher Hitchens
Christopher Hitchens (1949-2011) was one of the most popular – and divisive – writers of his day. Born in England, he moved to the United States in his early thirties, and lived in Washington D. C. for the rest of his life. He is often celebrated for his witty one-liners and bon mots, so here we’ve gathered together ten of his best quotations about literature, being a writer, and related subjects.
If you’re a self-employed writer, there’s a tendency always to feel guilty any time you’re not working. – ‘In Depth with Christopher Hitchens’, C-SPAN, 2007
I became a journalist partly so that I wouldn’t ever have to rely on the press for my information. – Hitch-22: A Memoir
A septet of great words invented by the American wit, H. L. Mencken (1880-1956)
H. L. Mencken (Henry Louis Mencken, to give him his full name) was born on this day in 1880, so to toast this great American journalist, critic, and all-round wit, we’ve put together a list of seven words and phrases he is thought to have originated. Fans of word-origins may also enjoy our pick of the most enjoyable and amusing words P. G. Wodehouse invented.
BOOBOISIE: In 1922, Mencken coined the word ‘booboisie’ for uncultured and uneducated members of the general public, i.e. ‘boobs’, modelling the word after the more famous ‘bourgeoisie’.