"In Transition" by Emily Corbett covers the past 20 years of contemporary #YALiterature with #transgender characters and/or by #transAuthors (fiction & memoirs) as well as a perspective on the YA book market in UK & USA 🏳️‍⚧️

#YA #YAbooks #TransStudies #TransLiterature #EnglishLiterature

ABC Shakespeare quiz, parteth the seceund: Test thine knowledge once more

Is this a quiz which you see before you?  We're back with another 10 questions to test your knowledge of William Shakespeare's plays.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03-26/abc-shakespeare-quiz-number-two/106491090

#Games #EnglishLiterature #Theatre

ABC Shakespeare quiz, parteth the seceund: Test thine knowledge once more

Is this a quiz which you see before you?  We're back with another 10 questions to test your knowledge of William Shakespeare's plays.

Films and documentaries on Flannery O’Connor

One of the writers I keep coming back to is Flannery O’Connor, a woman whose novels and short stories are as fascinating as her personal life. A devout Roman Catholic living in the evangelical Bible Belt, her writing is marked by regional influences and social contradictions of the Deep South. 

Flannery O’Connor (1925-1964)

My first encounter with O’Connor was through her 1953 short story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” — I remember it as a deeply unsettling read,  yet so memorable for the atmosphere, the ethical questions it poses, and the religious aspect that was so important to her, in both her public and private life. That short story also happened to be my personal introduction to the Southern Gothic genre, of which Flannery O’Connor is one of the finest representatives.

In this post, similar to an earlier article on Emily Dickinson, I’ll present several easily accessible films and documentaries on this amazing author that I think would be a good introduction to her life and works.

American Masters: Flannery

This episode of the celebrated American Masters series is the first feature-length documentary on O’Connor, made in the best tradition of classic PBS documentaries. The production team had full access to the Flannery O’Connor Trust, so the documentary provides a lot of detail, as well as rare archival footage. It premiered in 2021, and depending on where you are in the world, you may be able to access it via the PBS website, or on YouTube. To watch the official trailer, click here.

Bishop Barron Presents: Understanding Flannery with Ethan and Maya Hawke

Bishop Robert Barron is a prominent public speaker, author and theologian, with a sizeable online and digital presence. In this insightful episode of the Bishop Barron Presents series, he and his guests discuss O’Connor’s short stories, her faith, and intriguing bits of information about her private life.

They also talk about the film Wildcat — a 2023 biographical drama directed by Ethan Hawk, with Maya Hawke starring as Flannery. (I haven’t had the chance to watch it yet, but here’s the trailer.)

Flannery O’Connor Reads “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”

There are quite a few recordings of O’Connor’s most anthologised short story out there, but this one is a special treat, as you get to hear it narrated in her own voice. Recorded in 1959 at Vanderbilt University, hearing her Southern accent alone brings that extra something.

The Displaced Person

Commissioned by the National Endowment for the Humanities and released in 1976, this short film is based on O’Connor’s story by the same title. At the very beginning, there’s a brief introduction by Henry Fonda. Apparently, the film was made at Flannery’s actual home in Milledgeville, Georgia, where she lived from 1940 until her untimely death from lupus in 1964. 

If you have any other film or TV tips in connection with Flannery O’Connor, or indeed any thoughts on her and her writings, please do share them in the comments sections below!

NOTES

I’m a freelance language tutor (English, Latin, Classical Greek), researcher, and a literary scholar currently based in Belgrade, Serbia.  

If you wish to receive new content from my blog – as soon as it’s published – please enter your email address in the box below. You can also subscribe to my free monthly Newsletter and get a regular recap with additional content.

To support my work, you can send me a donation via PayPal. It would be greatly appreciated!

#AmericanLiterature #AmericanMasters #DeepSouth #documentaries #EnglishLiterature #faith #films #FlanneryOConnor #Georgia #learningEnglish #RomanCatholic #SouthernGothic

Free ebook: “Departure” by Sherwood Anderson

Dear all,

It’s the spring equinox and the time for another quarterly ebook. This time it’s a short story by Sherwood Anderson (1876-1941), American novelist and short story writer best known for his book ” Winesburg, Ohio: A Group of Tales of Ohio Small Town Life.”

Departure comes from that same collection of stories. It’s about a young man leaving his small hometown to begin a new life in a big city. As he sets off, thoughts about the familiar people and places fill him with melancholy. It’s a bittersweet story that I hope you will enjoy!

To get your PDF copy with vocabulary notes, please click on the link below:

CLICK HERE FOR FREE DOWNLOAD

If you’d like to access more ebooks, visit the English Library section of this website.

NOTES

I’m a freelance language tutor (English, Latin, Classical Greek), researcher, and a literary scholar currently based in Belgrade, Serbia.  

If you wish to receive new content from my blog – as soon as it’s published – please enter your email address in the box below. You can also subscribe to my free monthly Newsletter and get a regular recap with additional content.

To support my work, you can send me a donation via PayPal. It would be greatly appreciated!

COVER PHOTO CREDIT

Jake Sheppard via Unsplash

#AmericanLiterature #ebook #English #EnglishLiterature #EnglishVocabulary #freeDownload #freebie #learningEnglish #literature #readingComprehension #readingSkills #shortStory

... while Emma Roche analyses 6 popular #postmillennial #romance novels 2005-2015, - incl. #Twilight #FiftyShadesOfGrey & #GoneGirl
Read it to find out how #neoliberal #postfeminist attitudes in these works augment women's vulnerability to male violence

#AmericanLiterature #EnglishLiterature

Happy Lunar New Year of the Horse 🐴
Our collection houses many books on #horses - from #EnglishLiterature & #AmericanLiterature to the #History of horses in war, in racing, in the Wild West, in #Australia to horses in #Poetry & #Fiction - so many options to explore!

#YearOfTheHorse #LunarNewYear

The Greatest Love Story of All Time for #ValentinesDay ?! A white #Heathcliff ?!
Absolutely not! ❌
But we got the real deal in our collection: the full #Gothic force of #EmilyBrontë 's #WutheringHeights - plus lots of resources for your research🖤

#GothicStudies #EnglishLiterature #LiteraryStudies

Agriculture - just a trap? Cates Baldridge analyses narratives of the agriculturalist ideology in a variety of canonical #EnglishLiterature texts from 16th c to the present, incl. #Frankenstein #Shakespeare #WutheringHeights #Coetzee & more

#FoodStudies #CulturalStudies #LiteraryStudies

All the world's a stage, right? So here are all the plays of #Shakespeare painted as a schematic #map to show approximately the place where Will set them. As I too was born and bred in #StratforduponAvon, this painting is my love letter from a Stratford girl to a Stratford boy.

Which Shakespeare did you "do" at school? I did Midsummer Night's Dream, but my fave play is King Lear. Oooh, such violence and pathos! It's like a Nordic Noir TV drama.

Poster and more info: https://janetomlinson.com/products/shakespeare-map

Tea towel: https://janetomlinson.com/products/shakespeares-plays-tea-towel

And as of yesterday Shakespeare #JIGSAWS are back in stock here: https://janetomlinson.com/products/shakespeare-jigsaw-puzzle-1000-pieces

#Shakespeare #WilliamShakespeare
#TheBard #DailyShakespeare #Theatre
#RSC #RoyalShakespeareCompany
#ShakespeareSunday #EnglishLiterature
#ShakespeareFans #EnglishTeachers
#ShakespeareQuotes #painting #art