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Why Literary Critics Keep Misreading Books
Pale Fire to Mansfield Park: Nabokov, Edward Said, and the Problem of Interpretation
21 hrs ago
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Liza Libes
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How the College Essay Declared War on Critical Thinking
Elite Universities Are Still Asking the Wrong Questions
Mar 2
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February 2026
Can Literature Save Us From Bad Ideas? | Ricardo Lugo
Watch now | The Pens and Poison Podcast EP 11
Feb 26
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Liza Libes
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Ricardo Lugo
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44:24
The Ultimate Guide to Russian Literature
Want to love Russian literature but don't know where to start? You've come to the right place.
Feb 23
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When Literature Lost Its Way
How the Literary Academy Abandoned Humanistic Inquiry
Feb 16
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What the Ivy League Is Really Selling
Not a better education, but elite social formation.
Feb 12
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I Did Everything Wrong—and It Worked
How I Reached Six-Thousand Subscribers as a No-Name Writer (And a Thank You to Pens and Poison Readers)
Feb 10
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January 2026
“Sex-Positivity” Broke Contemporary Literature
Contemporary Literature Can No Longer Speak Honestly About Sex
Jan 26
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Harry Potter Changed My Life
What Harry Potter Understands that Modern Literature Does Not
Jan 22
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The Rise of the Soulless Novel
MFA Programs Have Colluded with the Publishing Industry to Strip Literature of Character, Personality, and Soul
Jan 19
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What Literary Agents Actually Want from Your Opening Pages
What I Learned After 50+ Manuscript Requests, Two Unrealized Offers, and Obsessively Rewriting the Opening Pages of My Third Novel
Jan 15
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Sign Up to Beta Read My Newest Novel, Blue Snow
I wrote a novel I never thought I'd write. Here's how it happened—and how you can be the first to read it.
Jan 5
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