Literary Criticism

"Writing only leads to more writing." — Colette

Adrian Piper’s Critical Instigation
"The challenge Adrian Piper models for us, her critical instigation, is to live in the present experimentally."
Tavia Nyong’oOct 11, 2015
- Literary Criticism
Maybe Connect
What brings Ta-Nehisi Coates and Elena Ferrante together is their shared refusal to give us the connection we desire.
Jedediah PurdyOct 4, 2015
- Literary Criticism
The Image of Genre
Reading an artist's novel is often a kind of aesthetic or intellectual work rather than a leisure activity.
Lucy IvesSep 13, 2015
- Art & Architecture
- Literary Criticism
Merit Square-Off: The Fight Over College Admissions
Elite colleges are not meritocracies — if by “meritocracy” we mean that students are admitted solely on the basis of high test scores.
Steven BrintSep 13, 2015
- Education
- Literary Criticism
You Tell Me It’s the Institution: Creative Writing and Literary History
Kenneth W. Warren discusses "The Program Era."
Kenneth W. WarrenSep 13, 2015
- Literary Criticism
The Achievement of “Young Men and Fire”
What took Norman Maclean so long to write "Young Men and Fire"?
Alan ThomasSep 10, 2015
- Literary Criticism
The Writing Life
There is, Bukowski knew, an inimitable world between aspiration and success, a time to rage against the man, and a time to soften the blow.
Geoff BendeckSep 4, 2015
- Literary Criticism
Good Literary Criticism: On the Crisis of Man
What happened to the 20th century’s universal man?
Mark GobleSep 4, 2015
- Literary Criticism
Cold Opening: The Publicity Campaign for “Watchman”
The publicity game and the death of book reviewing: why the semi-cold opening for "Watchman"?
Greg BarnhiselAug 26, 2015
- Fiction
- Literary Criticism
The Writer Postponed: Barthes at the BnF
Barthes at the BNF: the museum presents a panorama of his work.
Andrew GallixAug 23, 2015
- Literary Criticism
- Philosophy & Religion
Coorie Doon: Dirda’s Year of Reading
Michael Dirda writes about reading, but do we want to read it?
Susan McCallum-SmithAug 22, 2015
Vladimir Nabokov, American Vagabond
Vladimir Nabokov wasn’t born in the USA — and that made his take on America important.
Boris DralyukAug 20, 2015
- Literary Criticism
- Literary Fiction