By Nava Atlas | On July 19, 2012 | Updated August 25, 2024 | Comments (0)
Dorothy Parker (August 22, 1893 – June 7, 1967), the American journalist, author, and poet was known for her acid wit. She was one of the founding members of the Algonquin Roundtable, an exclusive group of eminent New York City writers in the early twentieth century.
Parker got her start by writing for magazines, including theatre criticism for Vanity Fair. In the 1920s, she became known for her book review column, “Constant Reader,” in the New Yorker.
Her reviews — some snarky, others sensitive, always pithy — were a pleasure to read. The magazine also published some of her short stories. Read More→
By Nava Atlas | On July 17, 2012 | Updated September 14, 2026 | Comments (0)
Lillian Hellman (June 20, 1905 – June 30, 1984) was a renowned American playwright and memoirist. Her plays dealt with complex political, social, and familial subjects. Most were well received, and from the height of her career to the present, she is considered a female pioneer in theater.
The Children’s Hour (1934) was the play that launched Hellman’s career in theater. This was followed by number of other successful productions, the best known of which are The Little Foxes, Watch on the Rhine, The Children’s Hour, and Toys in the Attic.
She was awarded the New York Drama Critics Circle Prize for best play of the year for the latter two. Though The Autumn Garden, which premiered in 1951, is one of her lesser-known works, many critics considered it her best. Read More→
By Nava Atlas | On July 12, 2012 | Updated September 15, 2026 | Comments (0)
George Eliot (November 22, 1819 – December 22, 1880; real name Mary Ann Evans; sometimes called herself Marian) was born in Warwickshire, England. Her probing Victorian novels have confirmed her reputation as a giant of English litereture; arguably, Middlemarch (1871 – 72) is her greatest achievement.
Her writing was politically and socially driven, with characters that are small-town individuals, some free thinkers, each with great psychological depth.
Eliot is also recognized for her interest in and knowledge of the visual arts. Her surviving journals and other writings contain information on trips to museums and a collection of her thoughts and emotions connected to the artworks she viewed. Read More→
Categories: 
Comments: