A New Kind of Literary Pulse

Saki was the pen name of the British writer and journalist Hector Hugh Munro. Influenced by such authors as Oscar Wilde or Lewis Carroll, Saki was considered a master of the short story. To depict the Edwardian social scene, he generally used a casual wit in his stories, his main goals being to satirize social pretention, unkindness and stupidity and to create an atmosphere of horror.

In her early years, Alice Dunbar-Nelson was a teacher who went on to become politically active for both African-American and women’s rights. Alice was an American poet, journalist, and political activist. Among the first generation born free in the South after the Civil War, she was one of the prominent African Americans involved in the artistic flourishing of the Harlem Renaissance. She wrote a ... [+]

Ambrose Bierce was an American Civil War soldier, journalist, wit and writer whose literary reputation was mostly based on his various short stories about the Civil War and the supernatural. His works are often compared to Poe’s tales because they share an attraction to death in its strangest forms and express the horror of life in a meaningless universe.

Harlem Renaissance poet and activist Anne Bethel Scales Bannister Spencer was born on a Virginia farm in 1882. The daughter of former slaves, Spencer’s mother enrolled her in school for the first time when she was 11, at the Virginia Theological Seminary and College (now Virginia University of Lynchburg). Six years later, Spencer graduated as valedictorian. Though she lived in Virginia her whole ... [+]

Noted figure of the Harlem Renaissance, Arna Bontemps was a prolific writer of poems, children books and novels. Despite his occasional popularity (notably for "Black Thunder," 1936), he struggled to make a living and started to believe that it was futile for him to attempt to address his own generation, and chose to focus on younger and more progressive audiences.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a Scottish writer best known for his crime fictions and his creation of the detective Sherlock Holmes. He was a prolific author who wrote 4 novels and over 50 short stories featuring his famous detective. He is generally considered as a master in the field of detective fiction. He also wrote fantasy and science fiction stories, poetry, plays, non fiction, …

Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch was a Cornish writer who published many novels but is most well known for his monumental publication, The Oxford Book of English Verse 1250-1900. He was also celebrated for his literary criticism, influencing many writers around the world.

Beatrix Potter was an English writer and illustrator, most famous for her stories featuring animals, notably The Tale of Peter Rabbit, which she published in her thirties and saw much success. Raised in an upper-class family by governesses, Potter was often isolated from other children, so she held great love for her many pets and the nature around her.

Carl Sandburg was an American poet, writer, and editor, who won three Pulitzer Prizes in his lifetime. Because of his diverse life experiences, he related to many different classes of American society and thus his works touched many. At his death, President Lyndon B. Johnson declared, “Carl Sandburg was more than the voice of America, more than the poet of its strength and genius. He was ... [+]

Charlotte Perkins Gilman was an influential American feminist, sociologist, novelist, short story writer, poet and lecturer for social reform. That utopian feminist acted as a leading theorist of women’s movement in the United States. Thanks to her unorthodox concepts and lifestyle, she became a role model for future generations of feminists. Nowadays, she is best remembered for her short story ... [+]