literature

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Female poets step up to the mic

While down in Cambridge last August with a team of Portland poets for the semi-finals of the National Poetry Slam, Tricia Henley Pryce says, she never saw more than one woman up on stage at a time.
Could be verse
By MEGAN GRUMBLING | February 10, 2012

More blogs = more books

On August 30, my debut young-adult novel, Fury, was published by Simon Pulse, the edgy YA imprint of Simon & Schuster. I'm a journalist by trade, and I knew next-to-nothing about book publishing until about a year ago.
Book fans use the Internet to go crazy!
By ELIZABETH MILES | September 23, 2011

Don't read these books!!

The Rhode Island affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union will host its annual Banned Books event on September 23 at 6 pm at the Providence Athenaeum.
Censored
By DAVID SCHARFENBERG | September 23, 2011

Review: My Afternoons with Margueritte

European cinema doesn't have as many sure-fire formulas as Hollywood, but the one described, I think, by Pauline Kael as the "lonely child, clean old man" scenario has long endured.
Twisting the "lonely child, clean old man" formula
By PETER KEOUGH | September 23, 2011

Review: Sholem Aleichem: Laughing in the Darkness

Not many these days are familiar with Aleichem's own story, or his other work, or his impact on Jewish culture and literature in general.
Joseph Dorman's portrait of Aleichem
By PETER KEOUGH | September 02, 2011

On carpentry and college

Age 30, I quit the Phoenix and ended up with a job as an apprentice to a carpenter. Sawing, chiseling, hammering, nail-gunning, tiling, sanding, slotting, framing, hauling, measuring, and sweeping are less obvious outcomes of an undergraduate career in
Finding reward - and real learning - in the ivory tower
By NINA MACLAUGHLIN | September 02, 2011

PhDisasters

I knew a man pursuing a PhD in literature. His dissertation had to do with humor as a form of dissent in 20th-century literature. And how enthused he was at first! How passionate and excited.
Worried about writing that thesis? Turns out writing could be the least of your problems.
By NINA MACLAUGHLIN | April 29, 2011

Whitcomb's legacy

It is unlikely that James Whitcomb Riley, a turn-of-the-century poet for a short time considered the heir to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ever envisioned his work accompanied by music quite like this.
Feel the poetry rattling your bones
By SAM PFEIFLE | March 25, 2011

Jane Eyre redux

Jane Austen has been a movie and television icon for some time now, and yet the Jane that both big and small screens just can't get enough of is the "poor, obscure, plain, little" heroine of Charlotte Brontë's 1847 novel.
Cary Fukunaga and Mia Wasikowska hold forth
By JEFFREY GANTZ | March 18, 2011

So you thought you were special

Reading Hannah Holmes's work is enlightening and entertaining — even when it's at its most depressing.
Literati
By JEFF INGLIS | February 18, 2011

20 Astoundingly Bad Romance Novel Covers

Sure, we all love contemplating glistening Adonises, swashbuckling buccaneers, and loincloth-straining savages — but not as much as Uncle Walter does.
Moaning, groaning, and oiled-hunk-boning with Uncle Walter & Co.
By UNCLE WALTER AND THE WIFE | February 11, 2011

The man in the yellow fur coat

The cultural critic Mark Dery worked as a clerk for Manhattan's Gotham Book Mart in the early '80s. One afternoon, he was taken by surprise.
As the Boston Athenaeum stages an Edward Gorey retrospective, his biographer reflects on the artist's lasting legacy
By EUGENIA WILLIAMSON | February 04, 2011

Review: Caroline Leavitt's family Pictures

Love, family, and the moments that change lives forever — these are the potent ingredients that Caroline Leavitt stirs up again and again in her fiction.
Photo finish
By JULIA HANNA | January 28, 2011

How to create a readable future

The actual future is a collaboration between nearly seven billion people worldwide. But creating a future can be a fun indoor sport for you and your friends.
Future Boston authors Jon Burrowes, Alexander Jablokov, Steven Popkes, David Alexander Smith, and Sarah Smith show us how it's done.
By SEVERAL FUTURE BOSTON AUTHORS | January 21, 2011

Interview: The authors of Future Boston on building the Boston of tomorrow

We only have three years before the aliens land. This was the future envisioned in Future Boston , an anthology by a group of local science-fiction writers published in 1995 .
Future Boston , 15 years later
By S.I. ROSENBAUM | January 21, 2011

11 Fictional glimpses of the Boston of tomorrow

The history of the future is not long.
Futures past
By PHOENIX STAFF | January 21, 2011

11 Fictional glimpses of the Boston of tomorrow

The history of the future is not long.
Futures past
By PHOENIX STAFF | January 21, 2011

. . . Just glad to see me?

Phillipe and Jorge's Plaxico Burress Award goes to State Representative Peter Petrarca who was charged Saturday night with illegally firing a gun outside Club Karma, of which he is part owner, in the ProHo district of Our Little Towne.
Bad karma; a Complex Christmas; the Darwin Awards; J.R. at City Hall
By PHILLIPE AND JORGE | December 17, 2010

Four questions for a hypertext pioneer

As both an author and illustrator, Shelley Jackson has looked beyond the limitations of singular genres or techniques to create a novel style of work.
Links
By DANIEL MCGOWAN | December 10, 2010

Review: David Young knows where he's going

David Young's Selected and New Poems is a good book by a good poet. You'll have to take my word for that, because I am not going to quote from his poems.
Poet's progress
By WILLIAM CORBETT | October 29, 2010

Writers celebrate Barry Hannah, the biggest literary badass you’ve never heard of

Gene Kwak first came across the work of Barry Hannah while studying journalism at the University of Nebraska.
Captain Maximus R.I.P.
By EUGENIA WILLIAMSON | October 29, 2010

Photos: Scenes from the Boston Book Festival 2010

A horde of book lovers get lit in Copley Square. (Sweet owl tat on slide #12.)
Tote bags, owl tattoos, and Tom Perrotta on parade
By JAMES CHOCA | October 22, 2010

Interview: Oliver Sacks, on The Mind's Eye

Over the past 40 years, since the publication of Migraine in 1970, neurologist Oliver Sacks has written 10 books and countless articles, examining what happens when specific parts of a human brain go haywire or stop working.
Oliver Sacks floats some thoughts on biophilia, smoking pot, and anti-science lunacy
By AMY FINCH | October 22, 2010

Continuing Education October 2010

Or do you just need a new hobby? Check out our continuing-education listings, plus trades that'll make you apocalypse-proof, and ways to dip your toes into a career in literature.
Looking to re-animate the corpse that is your dead-end career?
By BOSTON PHOENIX CONTRIBUTORS | October 15, 2010

PODCAST: 50th Anniversary “To Kill a Mockingbird” panel [MP3]

As our city girds itself for the tsunami of book boosterism that's about to sweep Copley Square this weekend (to refresh your memory on just...
By Steve Miller | October 14, 2010

Lit-snobs, hot librarians, and the rise of the literary tattoo

Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich was sitting down for a meal at Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, when she found herself under critique.
Bookmarked
By EUGENIA WILLIAMSON | October 08, 2010

Lawton and le Carré share their information

Information is dangerous currency.
Data basics
By CLEA SIMON | October 08, 2010

Fall Books Preview: Reading list

Even if you’re not back in the classroom, autumn inspires a desire to learn, to restore the intellectualism that was fried by too many beers and barbecues and sunburns. Fortunately, Portland is full this fall with opportunities to spark your smarts.
Smartening up the seasonal transition
By DEIRDRE FULTON | September 17, 2010

Review: John Brandon's Citrus County

Pre-teen creeps abound in contemporary cinema.
Creeps done well: Anti-social wonderland
By EUGENIA WILLIAMSON | September 17, 2010

Interview: Maya Angelou shares her wisdom

Though poet, writer, performer, teacher, and director Maya Angelou has made several visits to Rhode Island over the past two decades, her words of wisdom are always pointed reminders to those who have heard her speak before and wake-up calls to those who
Dare to be courageous
By JOHNETTE RODRIGUEZ | September 17, 2010

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