Arts & Culture
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Updike’s life in letters
From teen penning fan mail on family farm to Pulitzer Prize-winning author: ‘He needed to write the way most of us need to breathe or eat’
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What karaoke taught Elizabeth McCracken about fiction
In new guide to writing, novelist details value of being able to live with failure — and why she no longer sings in public
Part of the Excerpts series -
Dramatizing genius
Pop culture portrayals tend to favor the lone mastermind. These faculty faves are more realistic.
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When Cambridge was a ‘tiny Cuba’
125 years ago, a Harvard expedition drew 1,200 Cuban educators to class
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Seamus Heaney’s long migration
New collection traces life of courage, caution from Northern Ireland to Harvard
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How to read a poem
Ideally over a lifetime, says New Yorker’s Kevin Young
Part of the Wondering series
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From Rodney King to George Floyd
Former Bunting Fellow Anna Deavere Smith develops revival of “Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992.”
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A page from the pros
Responses range from Pulitzer Prize-winning fiction to essays on race in America to memoirs of artists and restaurateurs.
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Feeling ‘Clueless’? Here’s why Jane Austen never seems to get old
Harvard scholar highlights qualities that make Jane Austen ever-modern.
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Facing the challenges of chronic ills
Meghan O’Rourke’s new book examines the challenges face by those with chronic illnesses.
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Dreams of land deferred
“Castor and Patience” explores nation’s long history of systematic barriers to Black ownership.
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Maybe this book will change your life
Harvard scholars share from experience stories and ideas of uncommon wisdom
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Knowledge isn’t everything
An interview with Emily Ogden ’02 about her new book, “On Not Knowing: How to Love and Other Essays.”
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Some dads are super, some are stupid. Meet Mr. Neither.
Keith Gessen ’98 talks about being a first-time parent and his new book, “Raising Raffi: The First Five Years.”
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Who is your favorite literary hero, villain?
Some of Harvard’s best-known readers, writers weigh in.
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Funny lady
Emma Eun-joo Choi ’23 is the host of the new NPR comedy podcast “Everyone & Their Mom.”
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Elif Batuman returns to Harvard
Author and alum Elif Batuman explains how changes, questions in her own life informed path of protagonist in new novel “Either/Or.”
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Make it new (by making it old)
Frame conservator Allison Jackson recreated a frame for the Harvard Art Museums by 19th-century artist Albert Moore.
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Finding fresh perspectives in ‘1776’
The American Repertory Theater’s “1776” gives actors in this cross-gendered, racially diverse revival a way to mine complexities of race, slavery, and humanity.
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Bringing 17th-century Enlightenment tradition to Memorial Hall
The Harvard Undergraduate Salon for the Sciences and Humanities aims to revive the “age of conversation,” particularly about bridges between the two topics.
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How she went from being academic to creating Netflix show about one
Annie Julia Wyman, Ph.D. ’17 says her suggestibility led to “The Chair.”
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Like plunging over a waterfall
Natalie Hodges ’19 talks about her senior thesis-turned-book, “Uncommon Measure: A Journey Through Music, Performance, and the Science of Time.”
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In the key of Lakota: Rapper Frank Waln performs at ArtLab
Sicangu Lakota rapper Frank Waln wove storytelling, rapping, and instrumentals into an emotional performance at Harvard’s ArtLab on March 30, just his third live show since the pandemic began.
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‘Into the Woods,’ together
Black Community and Student Theater group, TEATRO! collaborate on Sondheim show.
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Turning spotlight on Broadway’s representation problem
This class closely examines who is cast for what role in film and theater, as well as how cultural identity is portrayed.
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Art with a conscience
Pioneering prints from the Brandywine Workshop and Archives now hang on the walls of the Harvard Art Museums.
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Becoming Julia Child
A culinary expert at Schlesinger Library, which holds the celebrity chef’s archival collection, examines her enduring legacy.
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A funny thing happened in comedy
Radcliffe event focusing on gender looks at changes taking place as once-marginalized performers shake things up.
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A gallery of their own
Four artists who happen to work at Harvard during their other hours say why the creative arts are important to theme.
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Why do some bands rocket when others sputter out?
Don’t discount influence of serendipity in success of Beatles and other artists, Cass Sunstein says
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Looking at how ‘Hair’ works
Theater, Dance & Media course — part theory and part hands-on — looks at medium, message of musical theater.
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Lady Gaga recognized by Harvard Foundation
The 36th Annual Cultural Rhythms, which celebrates Harvard’s diversity, returned to Sanders Theatre Saturday with stunning student performances and a virtual appearance by Lady Gaga.
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Turning right at musical theater
Julia Riew was on pre-med track before figuring out she was headed in wrong direction.
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Damon Galgut wanted to challenge his readers, especially the white ones
Booker Prize winner Damon Galgut connects narrative choices to “very uncomfortable power dynamic” in a conversation with Harvard’s James Wood.
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Reclaiming Indigenous languages, cultures
Latinx studies scholar says colonial legacies left them devalued, at risk of being forever lost.
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Revisiting classic you can’t refuse
Director of the Harvard Film Archive Haden Guest talks about the lasting hold of “The Godfather” and its status as a milestone film.