The History of Literature

Author Amelia Possanza discusses her book 'Lesbian Love Story: A Memoir in Archives' uncovering historical love stories of lesbians. The podcast explores themes of hope, love in Emily Dickinson's poems, book publicity shifts, social media impact, advertising strategies, Melville's passion in 'Moby Dick', LGBTQ history challenges, and themes of love, literature, and music.

Explore the monumental landscape of Tolstoy's 'War and Peace,' dissecting its unique structure and historical context. Discover the crucial contributions of Sophia Tolstoy and the impact of personal struggles on character development. Delve into Natasha's heartache and Pierre's transformative musings under the night sky. Revel in Tolstoy's innovative narrative techniques, blending fiction with history, while grappling with his ambivalence about life and literature. This journey through complex relationships and societal judgments unveils the depth of human emotion amid historical turmoil.

Professor Renee Fox discusses the Victorians' fascination with reanimating corpses in literature. Jacke explores Herman Hesse's views on trees as symbols of strength and self-realization. The podcast delves into themes of reviving the past in art and manipulating history in literature, examining works by Shelley, Dickens, Stoker, and more.

Novelist Fred Waitzkin (Searching for Bobby Fischer) stops by to discuss Jack Kerouac, Ernest Hemingway, and his new novel Anything Is Good, which tells the story of a childhood friend who was a genius - and who ended up living among the unhoused for years. PLUS Michael Blanding (In Shakespeare's Shadow: A Rogue Scholar's Quest to Reveal the True Source Behind the World's Greatest Plays) stops by to discuss his choice for the last book he will ever read.Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/donate. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at www.thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Women haven't always been given an equal chance to contribute to literature - but they were writing nevertheless, sometimes just for themselves. In this episode, Jacke talks to Sarah Gristwood (Secret Voices: A Year of Women's Diaries) about her new collection of extracts from four centuries of women's diaries. PLUS Jacke shares a poem by Sharon Olds and talks to Suzanne Scanlon (Committed: On Meaning and Madwomen) about her choice for the last book she will ever read.Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/donate. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at www.thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Early modern poets - John Milton, Edmund Spenser, Aemilia Lanyer, Abraham Cowley - lived in a world where theological questions were as hotly contested as political struggles over issues like empire, gender, civil war, and poetic authority. In this episode, Jacke talks to Deni Kasa (The Politics of Grace in Early Modern Literature) about the ways poets used the theological concept of grace to reimagine their political communities. PLUS Mike Palindrome tells Jacke about his admiration for James Baldwin and his works. AND Carlos Allende (Coffee, Shopping, Murder, Love) tells Jacke about his choice for the last book he will ever read.Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/donate. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at www.thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The relationship between literature and "madwomen" has deep roots. In this episode, Jacke talks to author Suzanne Scanlon (Committed: On Meaning and Madwomen) about her efforts to reclaim the idea of the madwoman as a template for insight and transcendence. PLUS Jacke talks to Adhar Noor Desai (Blotted Lines: Early Modern English Literature and the Poetics of Discomposition) about his choice for the last book he will ever read.Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/donate. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at www.thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What a treat! First, Jacke talks to Nicholson Baker, an author he's been reading for the past three decades, about Finding a Likeness: How I Got Somewhat Better at Art, Baker's deeply personal account of his journey learning how to paint for the first time, and a meditation on the power of art in times of crisis. Then Vera Kutizinski and Anthony Reed, editors of Langston Hughes in Context, stop by to discuss their choices for the last books they will ever read. Enjoy!Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/donate. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at www.thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Families can provide wonderful material for a writer, but they can also be tricky to navigate. How do you make your stories of home interesting to other people? What's too personal? What's not personal enough? In this episode, Jacke talks to author Bill Eville (Washed Ashore: Family, Fatherhood, and Finding Home on Martha's Vineyard) about his personal journey as a father, a husband, and a writer. PLUS Jacke celebrates Father's Day with three poems (by Ben Jonson, Sharon Olds, and Edgar Albert Guest) and an object lesson of his own ("The Burger Car"). Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/donate. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at www.thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Books are beloved objects, earning lots of praise as amazing pieces of technology and essential contributors to a civilized society. And yet, we often take these cultural miracles for granted. Who's been making these things for the last several centuries? How have they influenced what we've been reading? In this episode, Jacke talks to author Adam Smyth, an Oxford professor of literature who opened up his own small press, about his new work The Book-Makers: A History of the Book in Eighteen Lives. Then medieval manuscript expert Christopher de Hamel (The Manuscripts Club: The People Behind a Thousand Years of Medieval Manuscripts) stops by to discuss his choice for the last book he will ever read.Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/donate. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at www.thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices