Writers

For Smithsonian's September issue, author Gioia Diliberto took on the story of Pearl Curran and her spirit writer Patience Worth.

Gioia Diliberto on “Ghost Writer”

Founding editor Edward K. Thompson guided the new magazine through its first decade.

From the Editor: Curveballs at the Un-Magazine

From the first issue 40 years ago, Smithsonian has blazed its own path through the media landscape

Kevin Kelly worries devices like Apple's iPad, shown here with Smithsonian's first cover, nurtures action over contemplation.

Reading in a Whole New Way

As digital screens proliferate and people move from print to pixel, how will the act of reading change?

The human race "has not been elevated" over the past 40 years, Carl Hiaasen says.

Carl Hiaasen on Human Weirdness

The satirist talks about the "curve of human weirdness" and the need for public outrage in the political arena

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Scientific Publishing Can’t Be Free

Two centuries after Shakespeare's death, a lowly law clerk named William Henry Ireland forged the Bard's signature and a seal that convinced skeptics.

To Be...Or Not: The Greatest Shakespeare Forgery

William-Henry Ireland committed a scheme so grand that he fooled even himself into believing he was William Shakespeare's true literary heir

Michael Walsh is a New York Times bestselling author and most recently wrote an article on boxer Jack Johnson and musician Scott Joplin for Smithsonian.

Michael Walsh on “Great Expectations”

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Inviting Writing: The World’s Best Liver Sandwich

Biographers disagree over what kind of man Charles Dodgson really was.

Lewis Carroll's Shifting Reputation

Why has popular opinion of the author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland undergone such a dramatic reversal?

The city, in all its brooding grandeur, takes center stage in stories featuring the master of deduction.

Sherlock Holmes' London

As the detective stalks movie theaters, our reporter tracks down the favorite haunts of Arthur Conan Doyle and his famous sleuth

James "Pat" Daugherty, 85, served in the Army's storied 92nd Infantry Division, which was made up almost entirely of African-Americans.

Memoirs of a World War II Buffalo Soldier

In a recently published memoir written over 60 years ago, veteran James Daugherty details his experiences as an African-American in combat

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Smithsonian Contributor Talks About John Brown's Raid

Catch Fergus Bordewich at Arlington House during his talk about Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry

Following the Brontë Trail across the moors, the Wayfarers group walked between eight and 10 miles a day in Yorkshire and Derbyshire.

The Full Brontë

The British countryside is home to the real sites behind Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights and other works by the literary sisters

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The Allure of Travel Writing

Jan Morris, one of the world's leading travel writers, introduces six essays and describes the challenges of modern travel writing

Telluride, Colorado is Aspen's younger, less glamorous, not so naughty sister.

Telluride Thinks Out of the Box

The fiction writer cherishes her mountain town's anti-commercialism, as epitomized by the local swap stop, a regional landmark

Originally buried in an unmarked grave in 1849, Edgar Allan Poe's remains were moved to this downtown Baltimore monument in 1875.

Forget Edgar Allan Poe? Nevermore!

Cities up and down the East Coast claim author Edgar Allan Poe as their own and and celebrate his 200th birthday

"Amanda McKittrick Ros, who died in 1939, abused the English language in three novels and dozens of poems."

Words to Remember

Amanda McKittrick Ros predicted she would achieve lasting fame as a novelist. Unfortunately, she did

Richard Conniff has been writing for Smithsonian magazine since 1982. His latest work is titled, "Swimming with Piranhas at Feeding Time: My Life Doing Dumb Stuff with Animals."

Richard Conniff’s Wildlife Writing

International journalist Richard Conniff has reported on animals that fly, swim, crawl and leap in his 40 years of writing

Author of "Hola, Buenos Aires," Daniel Politi.

Daniel Politi on “Hola, Buenos Aires"

Smithsonian magazine staff writer Abigail Tucker recently ventured to Greenland to report on narwhal research.

Abigail Tucker on “In Search of the Mysterious Narwhal”

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