Literature

Today Jane Austen is regarded as one of the greats of English literature. But it was not always so. Amanda Vickery describes the changing nature of Austen’s reception in the two centuries since her birth.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a masterpiece of Middle English literature, which narrowly escaped destruction in the 18th century. Nicholas Mee examines the poem to discover both its secret benefactor and the location in which its drama unfolds.

The first performance of The Tempest on record was at court on All Hallows’ Day, on 1 November 1611.

To mark the 400th anniversary of his birth, UNESCO has declared Evliya Çelebi a ‘man of the year’. His Seyahatname, or Book of Travels, is one of the world’s great works of literature. Caroline Finkel celebrates a figure little known in the West.

An erotic poem written by Frederick the Great has been discovered in Berlin. Is the Prussian king describing a liaison he had with the Italian philosopher Francesco Algarotti?

Chris Corin ressurects the life of a Soviet survivor whose remarkable and significant career deserves to be better known.

Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility was first published in London by Thomas Egerton on October 30th, 1811.

The American abolitionist and author Harriet Beecher Stowe was born on 14 June 1811.

The Aeneid, Virgil’s epic Latin poem, offers as profound an insight into the current Libyan crisis as any 24-hour news channel, argues Robert Zaretsky.

Janina Ramirez, presenter of a new BBC documentary on Iceland and its literature, explores the country’s sagas, their wide-ranging legacy and what they tell us about the history and culture of the Arctic island and its peoples.