TODAY: In 1850, Alfred Tennyson is named Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom after Samuel Rogers declined the offer, succeeding William Wordsworth.
- How do we know aliens do science? “Just because aliens arrive with snazzy blasters doesn’t mean they can explain how they work, or that they even care to know.” | Lit Hub Science
- Violet Kupersmith considers the stylistic and thematic innovation of Find Him!, Elaine Kraf’s experimental hidden gem. | Lit Hub Criticism
- “Pristine maps are unused maps and so, while they might be nicer to look at, they are sure to have had much less intriguing histories.” In praise of old maps. | Lit Hub Libraries
- Donald Sassoon discusses how the legacy of the French Revolution carried forward into the present. | Lit Hub History
- Simon Winchester considers the duality of wind: “Gales seem to be blowing where they ought not to, and are ceasing to blow where for centuries past they always have.” | Lit Hub Science
- “I hear him before I see him. / An underbelly of bright white light / a ghost in the shadows.” Read “Tremor,” a poem by Fatema Abdoolcarim from the collection Tremble. | Lit Hub Poetry
- “Obediently my mouth opened with eyes to a collection of hot colors. Out came something unpleasant to my tongue—it was hard, lined down and wouldn’t slide.” Read from Elaine Kraf’s novel, Find Him! | Lit Hub Fiction
- “For me, Kafka is the paradigmatic example of a writer we read, even devour, and return to with joy, yet still hunger to see interpreted by others.” Jonathan Lethem on Kafka (and his dog). | The Nation
- Sebastian Castillo makes the case for tackling long, dense, difficult books with a little help from your friends. | The New York Times Magazine
- “These days I have no passport, no documents. And even if I manage to get one, I cannot return to Egypt.” Ahmed Naji on exile and reinvention. | The Dial
- Mark Iosifescu considers the cult of Thomas Pynchon. | n+1
- Eliza Clark offers (hopefully) the last word on “where are the male novelists?” | Vogue UK
- Andi Zeisler considers Andrea Gibson’s life through their poetry, Reddit AMAs, and a new documentary. | Salon
