Tagged Literature
Virtual Monday Poets - Now in its 28th season!
Monday Poets is one of the longest continuously running programs at the Free Library, currently in its 28th season. Join us for a very special virtual event on Monday, December 19 at 6:30 p.m. with Philadelphia Poet Laureate Airea D.…
Explore Creative Careers with Field Teen Center!
Throughout the month of July, Field Teen Center recorded interviews with a voice actor, four game designers, and a comic book writer. If you’re interested in creative jobs or if you just want to learn more about how your favorite…
Bloomsday is back!
The Rosenbach's annual Bloomsday festival is BACK on Delancey Place after a two-year hiatus. Join the celebration on Thursday, June 16 anytime between 11:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. What is Bloomsday? Bloomsday is the day…
Dracula at 125
Written by Edward P. On May 26, 1897, visitors to bookshops in London found a new book, for just six shillings, published by Constable and Co., bound in a lurid yellow cloth cover with blood red letters announcing its strange…
Rosemary for Shakespeare
Written by Isabel S. April 23 marks the day that we traditionally celebrate William Shakespeare’s birth and deathday, though neither of those occasions are confirmed to have actually been on the 23rd. Shakespeare was baptized on…
The lyrical speaker: Finding your own voice through poetry!
“La poesía es un espacio de libertad/ Poetry is a space of freedom”. Carlos José Pérez Sámano, Mexican poet and writer Poetry explores the language and its limitations. It’s a way to get…
Newspapers: A Guide Into the Past
Many of us may get our news from online sources these days—social media feeds provide a constant source of information about everything from policy proposals, the weather, celebrity news, and more, as the events unfold in…
A Continued Discussion on the Topics of Surrealism and Gender
Written by Lewis Shaw, who conducted extensive research in the Art Department as part of a Friends Select School Senior Internship Project. The following is a continuation of a previous blog post on the topics of Surrealism and Gender.…
Celebrating Jacqueline Woodson
Born in Columbus, Ohio, Jacqueline Woodson grew up in Greenville, South Carolina, and Brooklyn, New York, graduating from college with a B.A. in English. She is the author of dozens of award-winning books for young adults, middle…
Surrealism and Gender
Written by Lewis Shaw, who conducted extensive research in the Art Department as part of a Friends Select School Senior Internship Project. During the extended fever dream which we all refer to as COVID quarantine, I picked up a love of…
Create Something New During National Sewing Month
September is National Sewing Month and a great opportunity to create something new this year for everyone on your D.I.Y gift-giving list. Both the Art and Literature and Science and Wellness departments at Parkway Central Library have…
¡Celebremos la Fiesta del Libro en Español!
The love for the Spanish language and culture can transcend frontiers! The stories, poems and illustrations of the books can reflect personal narratives that touch our collective unconsciousness. A team of talented community…
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Uncovering the Real James Bond in the Rare Book Department
From Sean Connery to Daniel Craig, the intrepid agent of the British Secret Intelligence Service—James Bond, designated Agent 007—has epitomized masculine cool. Everyone knows how he likes his vodka martinis. Everyone knows…
Celebrating Pakistan's Independence Day with Music, Film, and Literature!
Jashn-e-Azadi Mubarak! Happy Independence Day! This past Saturday, August 14, was Pakistan’s Independence Day. Formed in 1947, Pakistan celebrated 74 years of its independence and freedom from British colonialism and the formation…
Summer Reading with Dena!
Yes, it’s that time of the year again, to head to the beach (or a heavily air conditioned reading nook) and dive into some fun reading! Here are some new and newish books that are perfect for giving yourself a mental vacation:…
Central Senior Services Joins Moore College of Art to Fight Social Isolation During Pandemic
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has studied the impact of loneliness and social isolation on American seniors and the results are deeply disturbing. Extensive studies of the subject reveal that social isolation of…
10 Great Reads from the Holmesburg Library Book Club
Since 2019, the Holmesburg Library's Book Club has met biweekly to discuss great modern literature, nineteenth-century classics, and historical nonfiction, to name just a few genres. Not even the pandemic could stop the book club…
Creative Writing: Discovering Your Inner Voice
I always wanted to explore creative writing! It’s fascinating to understand what tools and mechanisms writers use to craft a story or a poem. Creating with words is an amazing and fun experience! The pandemic gave me the…
Making Her Mark Spotlight: Poetry and Movement Building
by Suzanna Urminska and Sam Perduta Our words carry power—whether as balm or as burnish, our words have the power to come together to form poetry that recalls and reconnects a range of human experiences both personal and…
Newest Episode of "Book Feast" Invites Women to the Table
Coinciding with Women’s History Month, the newest episode of Book Feast uses the luncheon in Virginia Woolf ’s proto-feminist essay A Room of One’s Own (1929) to discuss women’s legacy in literature. The…
Philly Typewriter: The Age of Restoration & Preservation
Join the Literature Department and Bryan Kravitz of Philly Typewriter for this 8-part typewriter series. Bryan Kravitz discusses Philly Typewriter and how their helping lead the world in the resurgence of the mechanical typewriter. The…
The Typewriter Revolution of Today
Join the Literature Department and Philly Typewriter for this 8-part typewriter series. Bryan Kravitz will share why the Typewriter is experiencing it’s Renaissance, and the figures who are leading the charge. The program will…
IBM & The Rise of the Selectric
Join the Literature Department and Philly Typewriter for this 8-part typewriter series. Bryan Kravitz will discuss how IBM and their “Mechanical Computer” became the secretarial standard. The program will take place…
Daniel Torday | The 12th Commandment with Nana Kwame Adjie-Brenyah | Chain Gang All-Stars
REGISTER/TICKETS With characters situated in surreal, Twilight Zone -esque, yet all-too-familiar positions of oppression within our most venerable institutions, Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah ’s 2018 debut fiction…
Ananse and Me
A program for children with puppets, magic, folk music and dance featuring stories about the antics and adventures of Ananse the Spider.
The Personal life of the Typewriter
Join the Literature Department and Philly Typewriter for this 8-part typewriter series. Bryan Kravitz will share how the Typewriter found its home in the lives of artists, musicians and in our homes. The program will take…
Neil King Jr. | American Ramble: A Walk of Memory and Renewal
REGISTER In conversation with Signe Wilkinson A Wall Street Journal correspondent for two decades, Neil King Jr. reported from more than 50 countries, served as the newspaper’s chief diplomatic correspondent, national political…
Vanessa Hua | Forbidden City
REGISTER A former longtime columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle , Vanessa Hua has written about Asia and the diaspora from countries such as China, Burma, and South Korea, and has contributed articles to The New York Times, The…
Emily St. John Mandel | Sea of Tranquility
TICKETS In conversation with Laura McGrath, Assistant Professor of English at Temple University A “soul-quaking” ( Los Angeles Review of Books ) meditation on the everyday miracles we take for granted set amongst the…
Connie Briscoe | You Never Know: A Novel of Domestic Suspense
REGISTER Acclaimed for her literary portrayals of Black women’s relationships, Connie Briscoe's historical and romance novels have found acclaim and a wide readership for nearly three decades. Sisters and Lovers , her first…
Innovations & Standardization of the Typewriter
Join the Literature Department and Philly Typewriter for this 8-part typewriter series. Bryan Kravitz will discuss the QWERTY keyboard to Magic Margins, a look at the evolution of the Typewriter & its functional staying power.…
Exhibition: Visual Elegy: Prints inspired by bell hooks' Appalachian Elegy
The Literature Department and Print and Picture Collection invite you to visit a special collaborative exhibition on view in the Art and Literature Hallways on the 2nd floor of Parkway Central Library . The prints in this…
Exhibition: Visual Elegy: Prints inspired by bell hooks' Appalachian Elegy
The Literature Department and Print and Picture Collection invite you to visit a special collaborative exhibition on view in the Art and Literature Hallways on the 2nd floor of Parkway Central Library . The prints in this…
Exhibition: Visual Elegy: Prints inspired by bell hooks' Appalachian Elegy
The Literature Department and Print and Picture Collection invite you to visit a special collaborative exhibition on view in the Art and Literature Hallways on the 2nd floor of Parkway Central Library . The prints in this…
Reginald Dwayne Betts | Redaction
REGISTER A “powerful work of lyric art” and “tour de force indictment of the carceral industrial state” ( The New York Times Book Review ), Reginald Dwayne Betts’ poetry collection Felon won the…
Happy Hour: A Play Reading by Paul Hood
One man's path to inner peace does not go smoothly. Enter beer, hypocrisy, betrayal and sexual enhancements to keep life interesting. This lively play reading will bring together actors from Harrisburg and Philadelphia together.…
Paul Harding | This Other Eden with Hanna Pylväinen | The End of Drum-Time
REGISTER Paul Harding won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for Tinkers , “an astringent meditation on loss, family ties, and the presence of the past” ( The Guardian ) in which a dying elderly man wanders…
Joseph Earl Thomas | Sink: A Memoir
REGISTER In conversation with Elias Rodriques Referred to by Carmen Maria Machado as “all blood and nerve and near-unbearable beauty,” Joseph Earl Thomas ’ Sink is a coming-of-age memoir that chronicles the…
Third Thursday Teen Book Club
The Field Teen Center's *NEW* monthly book club meets on the third Thursday of every month! Teens who register at the Field Teen Center can pick up their free copy of Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay during January and…
The Typewriter in the Workplace
Join the Literature Department and Philly Typewriter for this 8-part typewriter series. Bryan Kravitz will share applications of the typewriter and how the machine changed industries for women, the railroad and more. The program…
Poetry in Translation
Take pleasure in reading poets from other languages and cultures.
Poetry - Novels in Verse
Poetry with special appeal for tweens and teens.
Poetry - Great Contemporary Poetry
Selections from the Literature Department.
NewsBank Hot Topics
Trending news and hot topics for your next assignment! Hot topics covers Current Events, Business & Economics, Civics, Government, & Politics, Social Issues, Science, Technology & Health, Sports, Arts & Literature, and People in the News.
LitFinder *
Discover literature content from more than 150,000 full-text poems, 840,000 poem citations and excerpts, 7,100 full-text short stories and novels, 3,800 full-text essays published in the 16th-20th centuries, 2,400 full-text speeches, and…
Literature Criticism Online
This extensive compilation of literary commentary represents a range of modern and historical views on authors and their works across regions, eras, and genres. Covers Children’s, Classical, Contemporary, Drama, Poetry, Shakespearean,…
Gale OneFile | High School Edition (formerly InfoTrac Student Edition) *
High school students will have access to age-appropriate content from magazines, journals, newspapers, reference books, and engaging multi-media covering a wide range of subjects, from science, history, and literature to political…
Gale Literary Sources (formerly Artemis)
Cross-search all of Gale’s literature databases from a single digital space to find biographies, primary sources, contextual reference, and criticism. Includes Dictionary of Literary Biography, Something About the Author, LitFinder,…
Gale in Context | Middle School (formerly Research in Context) *
Discover reliable and trusted information on a variety of topics to support middle school student research for government, U.S and world history, geography, literature, sciences, and social issues. Research In Context offers…
Gale in Context | Elementary (formerly Kids InfoBits) *
Elementary students in kindergarten through grade five will find age-appropriate content covering a broad range of educational topics such as animals, arts, geography, health, literature, people, social studies, technology, etc. Kids…
Books & Authors *
Discover fiction and non-fiction books that match your interests! Books and Authors (powered by Gale's popular What Do I Read Next? series) is for readers from every level of reading proficiency and enables users to explore the endless…
America's Historical Imprints
Explore the nation’s past in unprecedented ways. Includes books, pamphlets, broadsides and other scarce printed material, centuries of American history, literature, culture, and daily life, and extensive indexing and full bibliographic…
Academic OneFile *
More than 18,000 peer-reviewed journals and more than 9,200 in full text Full text of The Economist ranging from 1988 to the present, with no embargo Full text of The New York Times from 1985 to present, updated daily Full text of The…
John Banville | The Singularities
In conversation with Colum McCann “The heir to Nabokov” ( The Sunday Telegraph ), Irish novelist John Banville won the Man Booker Prize for The Sea , a story of loss and the fickle nature of memory. His many other novels include The…
Ross Gay | Inciting Joy: Essays with Major Jackson | A Beat Beyond: Selected Prose of Major Jackson
Ross Gay is the author of The Book of Delights , a life-affirming collection of short lyric essays that reminds readers to appreciate so-called ordinary wonders, even during turbulent times. His several volumes of poetry include Catalog…
Orhan Pamuk | Nights of Plague
In conversation with Laura McGrath, Assistant Professor of English at Temple University The winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature, Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk “is one of the great novelists of his generation” (The Washington…
Anna Badkhen | Bright Unbearable Reality: Essays
In conversation with Airea D. Matthews, Philadelphia Poet Laureate and Co-Director of the Creative Writing Program at Bryn Mawr With an artist’s perspective and a ground-level view of people in extremis across the world, writer Anna…
Ada Limón | The Hurting Kind
The 24th United States Poet Laureate, Ada Limón is acclaimed for her explorations of the “frightening mysteries and hopeful uncertainties of the everyday” ( The New York Times Book Review ). Her many poetry collections include the…
Yiyun Li | The Book of Goose with Elizabeth McCracken | The Hero of this Book
Yiyun Li ’s “remarkable” ( The Washington Post ) debut fiction collection, A Thousand Years of Good Prayers , won the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award, the PEN/Hemingway Award, and the Guardian First Book Award. Her other…
Vladimir Sorokin and Max Lawton | Telluria and Their Four Hearts
In conversation with Mark Krotov, publisher and editor of n+1 Vladimir Sorokin is one of contemporary Russian literature’s most popular writers. Banned by the Soviet Union, his numerous novels include The Queue , The Blizzard , …
Ian McEwan | Lessons
In conversation with Wesley Stace “The most psychologically astute writer working today, our era’s Jane Austen” ( Esquire ), Ian McEwan won the Booker Prize for his novel Amsterdam . His 16 other novels include Atonement , winner of…
Alice Elliott Dark | Fellowship Point
In conversation with Beth Kephart Alice Elliott Dark is the author of the critically acclaimed novel Think of England and the short story collections In the Gloaming and Naked to the Waist . Her stories, essays, and reviews have…
Chinelo Okparanta | Harry Sylvester Bird
In conversation with Asali Solomon Nigerian American author Chinelo Okparanta ’s acclaimed debut novel Under the Udala Trees celebrates the act of loving fearlessly, even amidst the strife of prejudice and civil war. Selected…
Maxine Hong Kingston | The Woman Warrior, China Men, Tripmaster Monkey, Other Writings
In conversation with volume editor, Viet Thanh Nguyen Acclaimed for her contributions to feminism and Chinese American literature, Maxine Hong Kingston won the 1976 National Book Critics Circle General Nonfiction Award for her first…
Chloé Cooper Jones | Easy Beauty: A Memoir
In conversation with Isaac Fitzgerald Freelance journalist Chloé Cooper Jones was a 2020 Pulitzer Prize finalist in feature writing for “Fearing for His Life,” a profile of the man who filmed NYPD officers killing Eric Garner. Also a…
Ken Kalfus | 2 A.M. in Little America
In conversation with Nathaniel Popkin The “rare writer who can combine keen, grounded, psychological observation with visionary headiness” ( Salon ), Ken Kalfus is the author of the novels The Commissariat of Enlightenment , a New York…
Margo Jefferson | Constructing A Nervous System: A Memoir
In conversation with Tamala Edwards, anchor, 6ABC Action News morning edition “A national treasure” ( Vanity Fair ), Margo Jefferson won the National Book Critics Circle Award for her memoir Negroland , an examination of her upbringing…
Lawrence Jackson | Shelter: A Black Tale of Homeland, Baltimore
In conversation with Solomon Jones. Lawrence Jackson ’s award-winning books include The Indignant Generation: A Narrative History of African American Writers and Critics , biographies of Chester Himes and Ralph Ellison, and a memoir…
Raquel Salas Rivera | antes que isla es volcán / before island is volcano
Introduced by Denice Frohman In conversation with Cynthia Dewi Oka The 2018–19 Poet Laureate of Philadelphia, Raquel Salas Rivera is the author of five full-length books of poetry. These poetry collections include lo terciario/the…
Jennifer Egan | The Candy House
In conversation with Ariel Delgado Dixon Jennifer Egan won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award for the novel A Visit from the Goon Squad , “a new classic of American fiction” ( Time ) that follows an aging punk…
Hannah Tinti, Mira Jacob, Jai Chakrabarti, and Marie-Helene Bertino | Small Odysseys: Selected Shorts Presents 35 New Stories
Hannah Tinti is the author of the bestselling novels The Good Thief and The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley and the short story collection Animal Crackers . A creative writing professor in New York University’s M.F.A. program, she…
Garrett Hongo | The Perfect Sound: A Memoir in Stereo
In conversation with Major Jackson Garrett Hongo was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for the poetry collection The River of Heaven . His other books of poetry include Yellow Light and Coral Road . The distinguished professor in the…
Jabari Asim | Yonder
In conversation with Lise Funderburg The director of the M.F.A. Creative Writing program at Emerson College, Jabari Asim is the author of the novel Only the Strong , the story collection A Taste of Honey , and several works of…
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