Irina Dumitrescu

Resi is a writer and mother of four in Berlin who has just received her eviction notice. Her friends live together nearby in a building they designed themselves, a cross between commune and architectural showpiece. Resi wrote a book mocking them and their pet project, and now they cannot forgive her.

In​ the mid-seventh century, a busy and well-connected abbess in Northumbria took a promising new poet under her wing.

Confessional writing is nothing new. Augustine of Hippo did it, and so did the philosopher Peter Abelard.

My Heart begins with the narrator’s heart attack and closes with his wife’s stroke. Between these, he travels through the desert of the American Southwest with his son, taking pictures of the night sky and learning how alone they both are in the world. It is a testament to Semezdin Mehmedinović’s writing that an autobiographical novel composed of such melancholic fragments is heartbreaking without ever being bleak.

Lessons in the art - and vocation - of publishing a book

Until the pandemic forced teaching to go online almost overnight, universities were widely considered impervious to major change. But if one age-old practice can be flipped on its head, why not others? We ask six academics where they would direct their efforts first.

An invitation to take guidance from the voices of the past

Reputation mattered to medieval people a great deal, in many ways more than to us today. They were concerned about what could happen to their public standing; to people at the time, both glory and infamy seemed to move as fast as the wind.

Translations of Beowulf are often judged by their first word. “Hwæt,” that enigmatic monosyllable, became a stately “behold” or “lo” in older versions of the epic. Modern poets have used their choice here as a calling card, announcing their intentions with more or less boldness. They have transformed “hwæt” into a firm “listen,” a laid-back “hey,” or a cheery “right!” A little over twenty years ago, Seamus Heaney gave the Old English tale an Irish lilt by beginning it with “so.” In her new re...

Last year I wrote a handy guide for scholars wishing to reach the heights of academe through upward toxicity. I showed aspiring leaders of their fields how to forge powerful alliances, abuse their underlings mercilessly and weaken their rivals. The emails I received – from their victims – confirmed for me that toxic scholars the world over are finding success by riding roughshod over human decency and workplace ethics.

Richards and Gallagher have given us a picture of an early modern England made louder and more boisterous by print, not silenced by it. Printed books made foreign languages more accessible, even to those without a private teacher or the funds to travel. Overseas trade and global politics resulted in greater interest in foreign tongues, with books on Arabic, Malay and Narragansett as well as the Continental standards. Immigrants take their place here as teachers, authors of foreign-language manuals, and students of English in their own right. This is a story of England finding its many voices.

A professor embarks on a six-month binge of celebrity-led online courses.