Arts – Page 32 – Jacke Wilson

February 17, 2017

History of Literature #80 – Power Play! Shakespeare’s Henry V

Who rules us and why? What does Shakespeare’s Henry V (c. 1599) tell us about the character of a leader? What does it tell us about the character of the people governed by such a man? Host Jacke Wilson jumps from kings to presidents, from the battlefields of France in the early fifteenth century, to… Continue reading

Arts, Authors, books, Fiction, history of literature, Podcast

agincourt, falstaff, henry v, kenneth branagh, laurence olivier, lincoln memorial, power, richard nixon, William Shakespeare

February 10, 2017

History of Literature #79 – Music That Melts the Stars – Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

In 1851, a 30-year-old Frenchman named Gustave Flaubert set out to write a novel about a discontented housewife in a style that would melt the stars. After five years of agonizing labor, his book Madame Bovary (1856) changed the world of literature forever. How did Madame Bovary influence authors as different as Ernest Hemingway and Vladimir… Continue reading

Arts, Authors, books, Fiction, history of literature, novelists, Writing

Ernest Hemingway, Ezra Pound, Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary, Paris, tibet, vladimir nabokov

February 3, 2017

History of Literature #78 – Jane Eyre, The Good Soldier, Giovanni’s Room (with Margot Livesey)

Writing about the Scottish-born novelist Margot Livesey, the author Alice Sebold remarked, “Every novel of Margot Livesey’s is, for her readers, a joyous discovery. Her work radiates with compassion and intelligence and always, deliciously, mystery.” How has Margot Livesey managed to create this suspense in novel after novel, including in contemporary classics such as The Flight… Continue reading

Arts, Authors, books, Fiction, history of literature, novelists, Podcast, Writing

Charlotte Bronte, flight of gemma hardy, Ford Madox Ford, house on fortune street, James Baldwin, Jane Eyre, margot livesey, Scotland, the good soldier

January 27, 2017

History of Literature #77 – Top 10 Greatest Literary Cities

What makes a city a great literary city? Having a tradition of famous authors? A culture of bookstores and cafes and publishing houses and universities? Inspiring great books? Host Jacke Wilson is joined by Mike Palindrome, President of the Literature Supporters Club, for a discussion of the cities where literature finds itself most at home – including… Continue reading

Arts, Authors, books, Fiction, history of literature, novelists, Podcast, Writing

berlin, buenos aires, Dublin, edinburgh, London, melbourne, New York, Paris, rome, san francisco, tokyo

January 18, 2017

History of Literature #76 – Darkness and the Power of Literature: News from North Korea (with Terry Hong)

For 70 years, the people of North Korea have lived through a totalitarian nightmare – and those of us in the outside world have had little access to their experience. How have generations of oppression and terror affected the psychology of everyday people? How do they feel about their situation? What are their hopes? What are… Continue reading

Arts, books, Fiction, history of literature, Podcast, Writing

bandi, cold war, dissident literature, kim jong-il, north korea, the accusation, totalitarian

January 11, 2017

History of Literature #75 – The Tale of Genji by Lady Murasaki

With a strong claim to be the first novel in history, the Japanese classic The Tale of Genji (ca. 1001-1012), by Murasaki Shikibu, or Lady Murasaki, is one of the world’s greatest literary masterpieces. But who was Lady Murasaki, and what compelled her to write this story of an idealized prince and his many lovers? How… Continue reading

Arts, Authors, books, Fiction, history of literature, novelists, Podcast, Writing

cervantes, cheever, japanese literature, lady murasaki, Nabokov, Proust, tale of genji

January 1, 2017

History of Literature #74 – Great First Chapters (with Vu Tran)

It’s a new year! A time for fresh beginnings! And on the History of Literature Podcast, it’s a time to celebrate beginnings. Vu Tran, author of the novel Dragonfish and a professor of creative writing at the University of Chicago, joins us to discuss ten great first chapters – how they work, how they affect the… Continue reading

Arts, Authors, books, Fiction, history of literature, novelists, Podcast, Writing

donna tartt, Fitzgerald, Gabriel García Márquez, j.m. coetzee, jeffrey eugenides, junot diaz, murakami, ralph ellison, toni morrison, vu tran, wharton

December 27, 2016

History of Literature #73 – Javier Marias

The Spanish novelist Javier Marías (b. 1951) has led a wild life, from his childhood as the son of a philosopher to his current role as the reigning sovereign of Redonda, a micronation located in the Pacific Ocean that has had a succession of writers as its king. Along the way, Marías has written and translated dozens… Continue reading

Arts, Authors, books, Fiction, history of literature, novelists, Podcast, Writing

a heart so white, ian mckellan, javier marias, judi dench, Macbeth, philosophical novels, spanish novelists

December 19, 2016

History of Literature #72 Best Christmas Stories in Literature

Sure, we all know the story of Frosty and Rudolph… but what about literary Christmas stories? How have great authors treated (or mistreated) this celebrated holiday? Mike Palindrome, President of the Literature Supporters Club, joins Jacke for a look at the ten best Christmas stories in literature. Authors discussed include Dostoevsky, Dickens, Willa Cather, Mark… Continue reading

Arts, Authors, books, Fiction, history of literature, Podcast

chekhov, dickens, Dostoevsky, Dr. Seuss, Hans Christian Andersen, james joyce, Mark Twain, Ntozake Shange, o. henry, Roderick Thorpe, Thomas Mann, Willa Cather

December 12, 2016

History of Literature #71 – Did Bob Dylan Deserve the Nobel Prize?

In 1959, a young singer-songwriter named Bob Zimmerman changed his name. As Bob Dylan, he then went on to change the world. After being lauded for more than 50 years for his songs and lyrics, this icon of the Sixties seemingly had achieved everything possible… and then the Nobel Committee awarded him the Nobel Prize for… Continue reading

Arts, history of literature, Writing

bob dylan, emmylou harris, k.t. tunstall, lou reed, lyrics, nobel prize for literature, Poetry, the byrds