Archive - Pens and Poison

This Book Is Everything Wrong With Modern Literature

I found the perfect case study in how contemporary literary fiction has lost its soul.

Sep 14 • Liza Libes

Provocative Insights From an Unapologetic Classicist

Watch my recent interview with Peter Boghossian

Sep 7 • Liza Libes

August 2026

How to *Actually* Write a Novel

The anti-MFA guide to writing great fiction—and a sneak peek into my writing process

Aug 31 • Liza Libes

12 Literary Opinions That Would Get Me Kicked Out of an MFA Program

These publishing rules are slowly killing great literature

Aug 24 • Liza Libes

Publishing Says My Novels Won’t Sell. Let’s Prove Them Wrong.

Meet the four novels I’m determined to bring into the world.

Aug 17 • Liza Libes

The Publishing Industry Stopped Believing in Its Readers

The success of Theo of Golden suggests readers never stopped craving ambitious fiction—and exposes the publishing industry's assumptions about modern…

Aug 10 • Liza Libes

How the Left Killed Reading

How literature became political—and lost readers along the way.

Aug 8 • Liza Libes

Why Modern Fiction Stopped Producing Great Characters

The publishing industry stopped searching for psychological depth.

Aug 3 • Liza Libes

July 2026

How Columbia University Made Me a Conservative

The lesson I never expected to learn from an Ivy League education.

Jul 27 • Liza Libes

Christopher Nolan's Odyssey Has One Fatal Flaw

Why Nolan's Odyssey Doesn't Feel Like Homer

Jul 20 • Liza Libes

This One Detail Ruined Christopher Nolan's Odyssey

I just saw Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey, and I have many thoughts.

Jul 17 • Liza Libes

The Publishing Industry Has a Censorship Problem

I Analyzed the Novel Everyone's Talking About. It Exposes Everything Wrong with Publishing.

Jul 13 • Liza Libes

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