writing

The Elements of Style

Why 'The Elements of Style' is out of style

Should we ignore Strunk and White's “The Elements of Style”?

Why 'The Elements of Style' is out of style
An illustration image shows the new Latin-based Kazakh alphabet published in a newspaper in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on Oct. 27, 2017.

Kazakhstan's switch from Cyrillic to Latin is about more than just alphabets

Kazakhstan's switch from Cyrillic to Latin is about more than just alphabets

How to talk like a TV writer, as explained by David Mandel of 'Veep'

How to talk like a TV writer, as explained by David Mandel of 'Veep'

Colson Whitehead Goes Zombie

Colson Whitehead Goes Zombie

The End of “The Road”

The End of “The Road”

The Substitute

Novelist Nicholson Baker braves being a substitute teacher.

The Substitute

"Alpha"

A science-fiction radio play by the author Lydia Millet imagines a future in which humans have wiped out the world’s plants.

"Alpha"

Finishing the Book, Finally

It’s a familiar scene: the writer sitting at the typewriter, unsure of how to begin — but what about knowing when to stop? 

Finishing the Book, Finally

Hilary Mantel’s Henry VIII is a Monster for All Seasons

Hilary Mantel’s books “Wolf Hall” and “Bring Up the Bodies” have reshaped how we think of Henry VIII — and made a hero out of the blacksmith’s son, Thomas Cromwell.    

Hilary Mantel’s Henry VIII is a Monster for All Seasons
College papers

Are college papers a waste?

Every semester, hundreds of thousands of college papers and essays are graded and then quickly relegated to the dustbin of history. Carleton University's Jim Davies explains how all of that student effort could be put to better use.

Are college papers a waste?

Annie Baker’s Agonies of Small Talk

Pulitzer winner Annie Baker writes plays that are full of awkward silences. Is that why some people love them, while others walk out?

Annie Baker’s Agonies of Small Talk

Mary Jo Bang: Time Is Almost Up

Mary Jo Bang has developed a reputation as a poet’s poet by facing the hardest truths about human beings. Maybe that’s why she had so much fun translating Dante’s “Inferno.”

Mary Jo Bang: Time Is Almost Up

Kurt's Five Lessons of Comedy

Before he was our host, Kurt Andersen co-founded the pioneering humor magazine Spy. Here are his suggestions for finding the funny.

Kurt's Five Lessons of Comedy
Handwriting

Close your laptop. Handwriting could make you smarter.

You might type notes faster than you write them, but according to research, longhand is better for remembering and synthesizing information.

Close your laptop. Handwriting could make you smarter.

Peter Carey: From Outback Outlaws to Militant Hackers

Peter Carey’s latest novel, “Amnesia,” sees government surveillance and cyber terrorism from an Australian perspective.

Peter Carey: From Outback Outlaws to Militant Hackers