Marina Warner

Torrents of Magpies, Spheres of Hope

Throughout Rikki Ducornet’s prolific writing career, she has adhered to a Surrealist commitment to dream knowledge as well as a belief in literature’s ability to confront all of experience.

No Freedom to Move

The current politics of immigration have twisted human nature against itself, fostering unimaginable maltreatment of those who wish only to survive and live a better life.

Temporale

During the pandemic I picked up the Catholic missal of my childhood, and it made me think again about its function: marking the passage of time.

Nothing More Wondrous

A recent comparative study of medieval Christian and Islamic culture suggests that marvels offer common ground; wonder is a shared delight, a shared motive.

Wimple Networks

The scholars in Relations of Power argue that a method borrowed from literary criticism can shift our historical understanding of medieval women’s spheres of influence.

Season of Epiphany

“I’m much happier with stories that don’t ask me to consent to their principles or believe in their heroes.”

Howl

The author of a new book on werewolves has hunted across the centuries for buried items of lore, ranging from ancient Greek texts to Victorian ghost stories.

The Wrong Culprit

Splash

Fantastic beliefs, in the form of false claims and urban legends, have been traveling irresistibly since the eighteenth century. The effect today has been amplified by social media; mermaid sightings rank in popularity alongside those of aliens, angels, and unicorns.

Spellbound

Holy Shape-Shifters

Legends of the Fall

Rescuing Wonderful Shivery Tales

The Grimm brothers and their ferocious folktales

‘The Book of Miracles’

The Book of Miracles unfolds in chronological order divine wonders and horrors.

Maps and Monsters

If animals are not only bons à manger but also bons à penser (good to eat, good to think with), according to the celebrated dictum of Claude Lévi-Strauss, then monsters, while perhaps less inviting to the palate, make even better food for thought.

Here Be Monsters

Two new books about sea monsters place maps at the heart of scientific marine inquiry

Rapunzel, Parsley & Pregnancy

Eckhout in Brazil