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Having given up his dream of making a living as novelist, by 1888 Herman Melville was working as customs inspector and writing poetry for himself and friends. That year put together a collection of verse titled John Marr and Other Sailors and paid...

Omar Khayyam was a Persian astronomer and part-time poet whose career spanned the tenth and eleventh centuries. His poetic output of 280 quatrains went essentially unknown to western readers until a copy happened to, according to the most popular...

The ancient myth of Hero and Leander as retold by Christopher Marlowe especially captivated Lord Byron with its tale of Leander swimming across the Hellespont (today known as the Dardanelles) to reach his beloved Hero. So captivated was Byron that...

"Stanzas" is a poem written by Lord Byron in 1820. Lord Byron, a familiar name all around the world, is one of the greatest British poets, as well as a politician and a leader in the Romantic movement during the early 1800s. His life was extremely...

Coleridge's masterpiece, "The Aeolian Harp," written in 1795 and published in 1796, stands out as an early example of the conversation poem genre. Initially focused on his upcoming nuptials with Sara Fricker, the poem delves beyond mere...

The writing of "The Task", a six book blank verse poem, is considered one of the greatest achievements of William Cowper's life. The poem has its origins in a rather peculiar story. Cowper, a man of strong religious background and fervent personal...

On July 26, 1680, John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester and noted man of letter, passed away. In response, Aphra Behn—at the time a successful if controversial playwright still years away from publishing poetry or the work for which she is most...

Richard Lovelace was an English poet and playwright during the Renaissance period and a notable figure involved with the Royal military and petitions regarding the Church of England which led to his imprisonment.

The Grasshopper is a poem Richard...

Thomas Carew was a poet raised in the church tradition in London during the late 16th century. After his father's illness, he spent some time in Italy where he worked as an ambassador. Some scandals occurred during this season which prevented him...

“A Rapture” is without question the most well-known and closely studied poem by Cavalier Poet Thomas Carew (1595-1640). Carew earned a degree from Merton College, studied law, enjoyed several diplomatic positions, fought in the First Bishop’s War...

Aemilia Lanyer was a British poet of the 16th and 17th centuries, known as one of the first women in modern England to have her work published. She was born in London in 1658 to a moderately affluent Italian family and received a comprehensive...

The Art of Travel is a 2004 novel by Alain de Botton, a distinguished Swiss-born British author notable for his works discussing contemporary philosophical themes. The book was praised for its originality and ingenuity of thought.

The focal theme...

Wild is a 2014 survival movie directed by Jean-Marc Vallée. It is a biographical film, based on the memoir of the same name written by Cheryl Strayed written in 2012. The movie stars Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern, and Thomas Sadoski, among other...

Judith Ortiz Cofer's two collections of short fiction, formally titled The Latin Deli: Telling the Lives of Barrio Women (1993) and An Island Like You: Stories of the Barrio (1995), follows the stories Puerto Rican women and teenagers living in...

Stasiland, or Stasiland: Stories from Behind the Berlin Wall, is a text compiled by Anna Funder. It tells the stories of the Stasi, the secret police force of East Germany, as well as the people who attempted to resist their regime.

This book...

What We See When We Read is a book written by Peter Mendelsund that was published in 2014. Mendelsund is a cover artist, book jacket designer, pianist, and the associate art director of Alfred A. Knopf publishing house. He is a distinguished...

Invisible Monsters is a 1999 novel written by Chuck Palahniuk, the author of the cult-classic Fight Club. It centers around a woman who, after a car-crash permanently disfigures her face, ending her modeling career, must forge a new life.

The...

ِAngry Black White Boy is the second novel written by American author Adam Mansbach. It was published on March 8, 2005. Adam Mansbach is a "#1 New York Times Bestselling Author. Award-winning novelist and screenwriter. Cultural critic", as he says...

Hong Gildong jeon (The Story of Hong Gil-dong) is a classic regarded as the first Korean novel. The historical inspiration for the titular character was the early 16th-century Korean bandit and folk hero, Im Kkeokjeong. Im led a peasant rebellion...

Mama Day is a 1988 novel by Gloria Naylor. Fraught with Shakespearian allusions, Mama Day centers around two star-crossed lovers in 20th century times.

The narrative concerns two characters, Cocoa and George, who meet when Cocoa interviews for a...

The Hours is a 2002 movie directed by Stephen Daldry and produced by David Hare; both men were given plaudits upon plaudits for adapting Michael Cunningham's original novel and bringing it to life as the book was widely considered to be...

Killing Rage: Ending Racism is an essay collection written by Gloria Watkins under the pseudonym bell hooks (lowercase intentional by the author's convention). The short stories are all different scenarios and affairs with their own subplot. They...

Lionel Trilling is the author of Sincerity and Authenticity, a thought-provoking, philosophical work. It was first published during 1972 and was later published during 1973 by Harvard University Press. This riveting work uncovers the complex...

Building Stories, published on October 2, 2012, is one of the most distinct stories in the history. It was written by American cartoonist Chris Ware. Chris Ware took ten years to make this book. In 2006, his works were shown at the Museum of...