Tagged Literature
Monday Poets Turns 25! View Ephemera from Over the Years
The Literature Department at Parkway Central Library is celebrating the 25th year of our flagship program, Monday Poets ! Over the years, the department has hosted poets from all over the country, and has always made it their mission to…
In Appreciation of Octavia Butler
That’s all anybody can do right now. Live. Hold out. Survive. I don’t know whether good times are coming back again. But I know that won’t matter if we don’t survive these times. ― Octavia E. Butler, Parable of…
If You Liked Jane Eyre...
...then why not check out these digital titles from the Free Library, specially curated for fans of this beloved English novel? On this day in 1816, Charlotte Brontë was born in Thornton, England. The third of six children, she and…
Spotlight on Special Collections: When Dickens Met Poe
This blog post is in honor of Charles Dickens' birthday. The prolific Victorian author of "epic stories" like Oliver Twist and David Copperfield , was born on Portsea Island off England's south-central…
Mark Gatiss Visits The Rosenbach to Film New Dracula Documentary
The Rosenbach was delighted to have writer, actor, and director Mark Gatiss visit in June to shoot scenes for his In Search of Dracula documentary, which was just released on the BBC. Along with Stephen Moffat , Gatiss created a new…
Hands-On History Wraps Up 2019 With Charles Dickens... and Introduces a New Line-Up For 2020
What do Charles Dickens, cuneiform tablets, and James Bond have in common? The answer is Hands-on History at the Free Library, which wraps up its inaugural year with a holiday program on Saturday, December 14 at 2:00 p.m.,…
Happy Birthday to Kurt Vonnegut (and Kilgore Trout?)
Yes, I am one of those: I keep a list of books saved in my phone—books that I will eventually read once I reach that magical point of life when I stop desiring new books and therefore stop adding to the dang list—and…
Song-Poems Concert Series Returns to Literature Deparment This Fall
The 'Song-Poems' concert series , which debuted in the Spring of 2019, is finishing up this calendar year with three special events. The concert series invites Philadelphia-based musicians to come into the library and utilize…
Happy Birthday, F. Scott Fitzgerald
F. Scott Fitzgerald would be 123 years old today, if human beings commonly lived to this age and had he not been a self-destructive parvenu , much like his most famous character. In fact, F. Scott Fitzgerald only lived 44…
Remembering Toni Morrison, 1931–2019
When I first read The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison , at 15 years old, I knew it would haunt me. The story fed my soul—I was shocked at its lovely, yet stinging taste, but realized I had always been craving it. Never had my struggle…
George Orwell in Context
Talking animals, pigs rising to power, a full-fledged government on a farm, and a revolution against an alcoholic farmer serve as the backdrop of George Orwell’s 1945 novel Animal Farm . Confused? Trust me, there’s…
ReJoyce! Bloomsday Returns to The Rosenbach
The Rosenbach 's annual Bloomsday festivities will be held on Sunday, June 16, falling on Father’s Day this year! What is Bloomsday? Bloomsday is an annual event where the world celebrates Leopold Bloom’s…
We Celebrate Him: Walt Whitman at 200
I celebrate myself — When lilacs last — I contain multitudes — O Captain! my Captain! What other U.S. poet’s work can be recognized by so few words—and by so many people—as that of the self-proclaimed…
The Mystery of Missing Persons
Many things go missing – overdue books, keys, socks in the dryer – but none of those can compare with the gravity of when a person simply disappears. Approximately 90,000 people are missing at this very moment in the United…
Book Donation to Recognize and Celebrate Polish Literature
The Free Library was fortunate to recently receive a donation of books by Polish authors that were translated into English, along with books in Polish for both adults and children. The books were donated by the Polish Book Institute , a…
Immersive Multimedia Experience Breathes New Life into the Frankenstein Mythos
Even if you’ve never read Mary Shelley ’s groundbreaking novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus , you’ve certainly heard of the stiched-together monster the teenage mother invented during a drizzly 1816 summer…
Break Out Your Garlic Necklaces and Wooden Stakes for Bram Stoker's Bday!
by Michelle Sheffer Today marks Irish writer Bram Stoker ’s 171st birthday. Author of Dracula —the inspiration for many a nightmare and pop-culture meme over the past two centuries—Stoker compiled and wrote his iconic…
Shakespeare In the World Lecture Series
The Fool in King Lear advised "Speak less than thou knowest" – but it's good the speakers at this year’s Shakespeare in the World lecture series aren’t following his advice. If you’re …
Join The Rosenbach for a Marathon Reading of Moby-Dick!
If you’ve ever joined our friends at The Rosenbach for Bloomsday , you know how fun (and slightly surreal) it can be to hear a book read aloud over an extended period of time. Well, the next Bloomsday may be several months off…
An American Author in Paris
"For two centuries," writes The New Yorker essayist Adam Gopnik in the preface of his 2004 collection Americans in Paris: A Literary Anthology , "Paris has been attached for Americans to an idea of happiness, of good…
VIRTUAL - George Saunders | A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Masterclass on Writing, Reading, and Life
From the New York Times bestselling, Booker Prize–winning author of Lincoln in the Bardo and Tenth of December comes a literary master class on what makes great stories work and what they can…
Katherine May | Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times
Register for the event here In conversation with Tracey Matisak, award-winning broadcaster and journalist Katherine May ’s fiction and memoirs include The Electricity of Every Living Thing , Burning Out, a nd No-Stress…
Monday Poets: An Ode to Unity & Dissent
In this season of uprisings, cries for justice, and calls for unity, Philadelphia Poet Laureate Trapeta B. Mayson and Youth Poet Laureate Mia Concepcion organized nine Philly poets to write a collaborative " Ode to Unity and…
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,…
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…
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…
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…
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o | The Perfect Nine: The Epic of Gĩkũyũ and Mũmbi
In conversation with Ketu H. Katrak, Professor in the Department of Drama at the University of California, Irvine, and author of the forthcoming book Jay Pather, Performance, and Spatial Politics in South Africa Acclaimed Kenyan scholar…
Eddie Glaude, Jr. | Begin Again: James Baldwin's America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own
In converation with Tamala Edwards, anchor, 6ABC Action News morning edition The chair of the Department of African American Studies and the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor at Princeton University, Eddie S. Glaude…
Karen Russell | Sleep Donation with Charles Yu | Interior Chinatown
Karen Russell ’s debut novel, Swamplandia! , the tale of a family’s run-down alligator-themed Everglades amusement park, was a New York Times Best Book of the Year, a Pulitzer Prize finalist, and a nominee for the Orange Prize. Her…
Jess Walter | The Cold Millions
Jess Walter’s six acclaimed novels include the #1 New York Times bestseller The Beautiful Ruins , the National Book Award finalist The Zero , and Citizen Vince , winner of the Edgar Award. A former print journalist, he was a…
Issac J. Bailey | Why Didn't We Riot: A Black Man in Trumpland
In conversation with Tracey Matisak, award-winning broadcaster and journalist “A painful indictment of American inhumanity woven with threads of grace and love” ( Guardian ) Issac J. Bailey ’s memoir My Brother Moochie offered a raw,…
Nicole Krauss | To Be a Man: Stories
In conversation with Nomi Eve, author of Henna House and The Family Orchard , Director of the Creative Writing MFA program, Drexel University. “One of America’s most important novelists and an international literary sensation” ( New…
Ayad Akhtar | Homeland Elegies
In conversation with Tracey Matisak, award-winning broadcaster and journalist Acclaimed for exploring complicated sociopolitical aspects of identity within the Muslim American experience, Ayad Akhtar won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for…
Barbara Kingsolver | How to Fly (In Ten Thousand Easy Lessons)
A “gifted magician of words” ( Time ), Barbara Kingsolver is the author of the Pulitzer Prize finalist The Poisonwood Bible , a postcolonial epic about an evangelical American family’s undoing in the Congo. She is the author of several…
Nikki Giovanni | Make Me Rain
One of America’s most celebrated poets, the “outspoken, prolific, energetic” ( New York Times ) Nikki Giovanni is the author of numerous collections of poetry including Acolytes ; Black Feeling, Black Talk, Black Judgment ; and …
Roddy Doyle | Love
In conversation with Liz Moore , best selling author of Long Bright River Lauded for his “marvelous” and “bloody brilliant” ( Toronto Star ) works of fiction, prolific novelist, dramatist, children’s author, and screenwriter Roddy…
Imani Perry In Conversation with Kiese Laymon: On the Uprising since George Floyd's Murder and Black Struggles for Freedom in the United States
Imani Perry is the Hughes-Rogers Professor of African American Studies and faculty associate in the Program in Law and Public Affairs and Gender and Sexuality Studies at Princeton. She is the author of six books, most recently the…
Lauren Francis-Sharma | Book of the Little Axe
In conversation with Erica Armstrong Dunbar , award-winning author of Never Caught: The Washingtons' Relentless Pursuit of their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge and She Came to Slay: The Life and Times of Harriet Tubman. Lauren…
Karla Cornejo Villavicencio | The Undocumented Americans
In conversation with Andrea González-Ramírez, Senior Writer at GEN and an Ida B. Wells fellow at Type Investigations. Read Ms. González-Ramírez's interview with Karla Cornejo Villavicencio. Originally from Ecuador, Karla Cornejo…
Seanan McGuire | Middlegame and Imaginary Numbers
One of contemporary sci-fi/fantasy’s most popular writers, Seanan McGuire won the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Awards for the Wayward Children series of books. Also the author of, among other books, the October Day series and the InCryptid…
Susan Choi | Trust Exercise with Jacqueline Woodson | Red at the Bone
Winner of the 2019 National Book Award for fiction, Trust Exercise follows a star-crossed suburban teen romance in a 1980s performing arts high school. Susan Choi ’s novels are known for excavating the hidden corners of the human heart…
Frank B. Wilderson III | Afropessimism
Frank B. Wilderson III spent more than five years in South Africa, where he was one of two Americans elected to the African National Congress during the country’s transformation after apartheid. His books include Incognegro: A Memoir of…
Julia Alvarez | Afterlife
Named “Woman of the Year” by Latina magazine in 2000, poet, essayist, and fiction writer Julia Alvarez is renowned for her lyrical, poignant, politically insightful books, including How the García Girls Lost Their Accents , which…
Katie Roiphe | The Power Notebooks
Feminist author and journalist Kate Roiphe is the author of In Praise of Messy Lives , a “daring, vivid, combative” ( Wall Street Journal ) collection of essays that explores everything from Joan Didion to Mad Men. Her other books…
Emily St. John Mandel | The Glass Hotel
In conversation with Beth Kephart, the award-winning author of more than twenty-five books, including Going Over, Handling the Truth: On the Writing of Memoir, and most recently The Great Upending. A finalist for the National Book…
James McBride | Deacon King Kong
“Boisterous, highly entertaining,” and “altogether original” ( Washington Post ), James McBride is the author of the National Book Award–winning The Good Lord Bird , in which a young boy born into slavery joins abolitionist John…
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