Exclusive: Two-page 1957 manuscript signed by author linked to his classic of beat literature, On the Road A “very significant” unpublished story by Jack Kerouac described as “a lost chapter of the On the Road saga” has been discovered after languishing in the files of an assassinated Mafia crime boss for at least 40 years. The two-page typewritten manuscript signed by Kerouac in green ink is titled The Holy, Beat, and Crazy Next Thing and is dated 15 April 1957, five months before his classic of beat literature, On the Road, was published. Continue reading...

Thanks to his invention of Europe's first typographic printing method, and his pioneering work on the first printed Bible, the fifteenth-century German inventor Joh…

Our first Literary Friendships event brought together Colm Tóibín with his friend László Krasznahorkai. Described by the Guardian as a ‘visionary writer’,…

The author was announced as winner at a ceremony in Stockholm • Nobel prize in literature 2025 live: László Krasznahorkai wins ‘for his compelling and visionary oeuvre’ The Nobel prize in literature for 2025 has been awarded to Hungarian author László Krasznahorkai, the Swedish Academy has announced. The Academy cited the 71-year-old’s “compelling and visionary oeuvre that, in the midst of apocalyptic terror, reaffirms the power of art”. Continue reading...

Imagine that you’ve been buried alive. Don’t question the specifics, whether you’ve been kidnapped or unfortunate enough to fall victim to poorly trained pathologists and morticians, for either way…

Today, the National Book Foundation announced the finalists in all five categories—Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Translated Literature, and Young People’s Literature—for the 2025 National Book Award…

Emily Brontë only published one full-length book before dying at the tragically young age of 30. But that book, Wuthering Heights , which tells the story of obsessi…

Jacke and Mike reconsider the life and works of the great twentieth-century British novelist Graham Greene.  Works discussed include The End of the Affair, The Powe…

It's October! Jacke kicks off his favorite month with a classic tale of horror, "The Monkey's Paw" by W.W. Jacobs. Perhaps you know the general contours of the para…

Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616) was a soldier, a civil servant, a playwright, and a poet. He was kidnapped by pirates and held prisoner for almost five years. Later…

Elizabeth Gaskell had only written one novel when Charles Dickens started publishing her work in his journal Household Words . But soon she would become famous as t…

Jacke talks to author Tom Lutz about 1925: A Literary Encyclopedia , which provides a fascinating window into a year when literature was arguably at its peak centra…

Jane Austen had six brothers, but her older brother Henry was her favorite. Kind and witty, Henry has long been appreciated by Austen fans for his devotion to Jane …