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Literature

Science & Nature

What Are “Unidentified Aerial Phenomena”?

A recent government report gave UFOs a rebrand, but so many basic questions remain unanswered.

John Crowley

Arts in Society

Autofiction’s First Boom Was in Turn-of-the-Century Japan

Newly translated into English, Minae Mizumura’s An I-Novel is a vivid portrait of immigrant displacement and the ironies of our global cultural ecosystem. 

Houman Barekat

Gender & Sexuality, Philosophy & Religion

The Obligation of Self-Discovery

Simone de Beauvoir’s relationship with her readers was a mutually demanding collaboration.

Vivian Gornick

Arts in Society

The Prophet of the Far Right

Michel Houellebecq’s Islamophobia and chauvinism have made him a favorite intellectual of right extremists. So why does he appeal to so many on the left as well?

Martin Gelin

Arts in Society

What Would Boccaccio Say About COVID-19?

The Florentine humanist’s description of the Black Death in the Decameron remains one of the most thoughtful accounts of a society living under a pandemic.

Paula Findlen

Arts in Society

English as a Sexual Language

Garth Greenwell’s Cleanness movingly depicts the vulnerabilities of queer desire, but it also continues a long tradition of exoticizing Eastern European sexuality.

Marta Figlerowicz

Arts in Society

The Pruner’s Tale

An ancient pilgrimage route inspires a project of cooperative storytelling which pairs writers with detained immigrants, such as the Mexican horticulturalist in this story.

Lytton Smith, David Herd

Arts in Society

Elizabeth Hand’s Curious Toys

Celebrated novelists John Crowley and Elizabeth Hand discuss Hand’s new novel and the ways that historical fiction can and cannot answer our questions about the past.

John Crowley, Elizabeth Hand

Politics

Loving Latin at the End of the World

Many revere Latin as the soul of Western civilization. But its beauty should not keep us from reckoning with its history.

Joel Christensen

Arts in Society

Got Shakespeare?

When conservatives declare the death of the English major, they highlight the need for the critical thinking skills that English departments excel at teaching.

Jonathan Beecher Field

Arts in Society

The Other Toni Morrison

A timely new documentary celebrates Morrison’s novels, but downplays the enduring power of her work as an editor and essayist.

Joy James

Arts in Society

A World of Electric Children

Science fiction author Ted Chiang wrote the story for the Academy Award–winning film Arrival. Now his new collection of short stories gives us further glimpses of possible futures.

John Crowley

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