Mary Wollstonecraft (April 27, 1759 – September 10, 1797) was a British author of fiction and nonfiction, philosopher, and women’s rights advocate.
Though her body of work was fairly substantial, including many essays, a history of the French Revolution, and some fiction, she’s now primarily known for A Vindication of the Rights of Woman.
She was the mother of Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin (later known as Mary Shelley), the author of Frankenstein; tragically, she died a few days after giving birth to her namesake. Read More→
Before my first visit to Iceland in the summer of 2018, when I spent the entire month of August at a writer/artist residency, I knew very little about the country generally and even less about its capital — especially that I’d find so many lovely bookstores and libraries in Reykjavik.
Of course, I had seen photos of the otherworldly landscapes, but I would have only the shortest time in which to explore them; my stay was mainly within the confines of Reykjavik. And that turned out to be absolutely beyond fine. In fact, for a nerd and bookworm like myself, it was blissful.
Since then I’ve been back to Reykjavik four times. One stay lasted five weeks and I can say with a confidence that it was the best trip of my life. So go ahead … visit Iceland for the glaciers, waterfalls, and other gorgeous scenery, but if you’re the indoorsy type like me you’ll be equally happy in the vast array of bookstores, libraries, and museums in Reykjavik (and beyond). There’s an amazing vegan scene, too.
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Simone de Beauvoir (1908 –1986) was a French author, existential philosopher, political activist, feminist, and social theorist whose most popular and enduring work is The Second Sex.
Published in 1949, it was considered quite radical for its time and made de Beauvoir an intellectual force to be reckoned with. The book has inspired generations of women to question the status quo and strive to change it.
De Beauvoir, who wasn’t yet forty when her magnum opus was published, explored the history and mythology of the female gender. It was first published it in two volumes, Facts and Myths and Lived Experience (Les faits et les mythes & L’expérience vécue). Read More→
“Through my tears I found god in myself and I loved her fiercely” is perhaps the most iconic quote from For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf by Ntozake Shange (1948 – 2018).
For Colored Girls has touched many hearts since it premiered in 1976. The 2019 production of For Colored Girls at SUNY New Paltz was one such powerful and emotional presentation of Shange’s play.
For Colored Girls was Shange’s first work and remains her most acclaimed theatre piece, consisting of twenty captivating poetic monologues representing black sisterhood in a racist and sexist society. Read More→
Writing as “Ellis Bell,” Emily Brontë‘s only novel, Wuthering Heights, was published in December 1847. Presented here is a synopsis of Wuthering Heights, its ponderous plot described by 19th-century biographer Mary F. Robinson.
The brooding and complex story follows the intersection of two families — the Earnshaws and the Lintons. The passionate connection of Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff have sparked romantic imaginations as star-crossed lovers whose dramas and tragedies reverberate into the next generation.
Upon publication, reviewers were rather perplexed by the novel. Charlotte Brontë felt that her sister Emily’s magnum opus was poorly understood and supplied her own preface to the 1850 edition of Wuthering Heights. Read More→
Willa Cather (1873 – 1947) was a masterful American author of fiction whose spare yet evocative prose has held an enduring place in American literature. Life on the prairie and the immigrant families she had encountered inspired some of her earlier novels, including O Pioneers!, The Song of the Lark, and My Antonia. Death Comes for the Archbishop is considered one of her finest, and One of Ours won the Pulitzer prize.
After abandoning her initial ambition to study medicine, Cather embarked on a life of letters, first working as a journalist, critic, and editor. Her first published book was a collection of poems titled April Highlights (1903), remaining her only volume of poetry. Next came The Troll Garden (1905), a collection of short stories. Her first novel, Alexander’s Bridge, was published in 1912. Read More→
Zora Neale Hurston (January 7, 1891 – January 28, 1960), was a novelist, ethnographer, memoirist, and folklorist whose literary career got off the ground at the height of the Harlem Renaissance era. Presented here are fascinating facts about Zora Neale Hurston that shed light on her complicated life and legacy.
Zora was a natural storyteller. As she grew up, in Eatonville, Florida, she listened to the stories of people she encountered. Her love of story would lead her not only to create her own, but to collect stories from the oral traditions of the African American South and the Black cultures of the Caribbean.
With her determined intelligence and boisterous personality, Zora quickly became a big name in the Harlem Renaissance, or as it was then often called, the New Negro movement of the 1920s. She burst on the literary scene in 1925 after entering Opportunity magazine’s literary contest, for which she was recognized for a short story, “Spunk,” and a play, “Color Struck.”
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My Mortal Enemy by Willa Cather is a novella by this eminent American author, published in 1926. Cather sketches a character study of a woman and a life not particularly well-lived. In this slim work, the story of an ill-considered marriage unfolds. My Mortal Enemy is considered a minor work by Cather, and there has been debate as to whether it has stood the test of time.
Unlike the nearly universal praise for her major works —My Ántonia, Death Comes for the Archbishop , and O Pioneers! among others, My Mortal Enemy has been received with praise as well as met with disappointment. Read More→
