American Writers

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A Close, Intimate Look at Walt Whitman

A haunting image captures America’s quintessential poet, writes author Mark Strand

Leonardo DiCaprio plays Jay Gatsby in the latest adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel

Will the Real Great Gatsby Please Stand Up?

F. Scott Fitzgerald couldn’t resist putting his own life into his novels, but where’s the line between truth and fiction?

The fireman Tom Sawyer was lionized by local reporters for battling the “flames which destroyed the . . . landmarks of a boom town.”

The Adventures of the Real Tom Sawyer

Mark Twain prowled the rough-and-tumble streets of 1860s San Francisco with a hard-drinking, larger-than-life fireman

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Appreciation: Science Fiction Giant Ray Bradbury

Planetary geologist Jim Zimbelman reflects on Ray Bradbury's legacy

Author Judy Blume recently received the John P. McGovern Award from the Smithsonian Associates for her contributions to the American family.

Q and A: Judy Blume

The children's book author speaks about her career and what it means to write a "banned book"

Writer Gertrude Stein crisscrossed America for 191 days in 1934-'35. She gave 74 lectures in 37 cities in 23 states.

When Gertrude Stein Toured America

A 1934 barnstorming visit to her native country transformed Stein from a noteworthy but rarely glimpsed author into a national celebrity

Though admired for his essays, his fiction and revisions of William Strunk's Elements of Style, it is Charlotte's Web that keeps his name before the public, generation after generation.

How E.B. White Wove Charlotte’s Web

A new book explores how the author of the beloved children’s book was inspired by his love for nature and animals

O. O. McIntyre's daily column about the city, "New York Day by Day," ran in more than 500 newspapers throughout the United States.

Odd McIntyre: The Man Who Taught America About New York

For millions of people, their only knowledge about New York City was O.O. McIntyre’s daily column about life in the Big Apple

Autobiographies invariably distort, insists author Paul Theroux, at his home in Hawaii.

The Trouble With Autobiography

Novelist and travel writer Paul Theroux examines other authors' autobiographies to prove why this piece will suffice for his

Richard Crowninshield bludgeoned 82-year-old Capt. Joseph White while the former slave trader and shipmaster slept.

A Murder in Salem

In 1830, a brutal crime in Massachusetts riveted the nation—and inspired the writings of Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne

The messages received by Pearl Curran would ultimately total millions of words, including a well-reviewed novel and poems that were anthologized.

Excerpts From Patience Worth's The Sorry Tale

"You have to be grateful in Vegas. It's the great lesson of the city, the thing I'm taking as a souvenir," says J.R. Moehringer.

Las Vegas: An American Paradox

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist J.R. Moehringer rolls the dice on life in Sin City

Pearl Curran began channeling messages from Patience Worth in 1913 by means of a Ouija board.

Patience Worth: Author From the Great Beyond

Pearl Curran, a St. Louis housewife, channeled a 17th-century spirit to the heights of 20th-century literary stardom

The success of To Kill a Mockingbird overwhelmed Harper Lee.

Harper Lee's Novel Achievement

With To Kill a Mockingbird, published 50 years ago, Lee gave America a story for the ages. Just don't ask her about it

Route 100, studded with historic landmarks like the Scott Bridge, "offers such remarkable visual experiences," says filmmaker Dorothy Lovering.

Vermont's Venerable Byway

The state's Route 100 offers an unparalleled access to old New England, from wandering moose to Robert Frost's hideaway cabin

After Mark Twain first glimpsed the girl of his dreams, he never forgot Laura Wright's "frank and simple and winsome" charms.

Mark Twain in Love

A chance encounter on a New Orleans dock in 1858 haunted the writer for the rest of his life

"For residents of the area who have gone to live elsewhere, it's the canal—so deep-set in what appears to be solid rock ... that resurfaces in dreams," says Oates.

Joyce Carol Oates Goes Home Again

The celebrated writer returns to the town of her birth to revisit the places that haunt her memory and her extraordinary fiction

Last December, The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond, a film based on a never-before-produced screenplay by Tennessee Williams opened in theaters.

A Forgotten Tennessee Williams Work Now a Motion Picture

Written in the 1950s, "The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond" was forgotten until it was recently adapted into a major motion picture

A tractor with the West Virginia flag attached to the back makes it way down Main Street in Buckhannon, West Virginia.

Buckhannon, West Virginia: The Perfect Birthplace

A community in the Allegheny foothills nurtured novelist Jayne Anne Phillips' talent for storytelling

Krakow possesses a wealth of cultural treasures such as Wawel Royal Castle where the country's kings lived.

A Whirlwind Tour Around Poland

The memoirist trades Tuscany for the northern light and unexpected pleasures of Krakow and Gdansk

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