The Ignorant Art Historian: Sackcloth 1953

By Hal FosterMay 19, 2026

“We associate burlap not with art but with use, indeed with waste.”

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History Literature & Essays Culture & Arts

Why early medieval Ireland had laws for bees

Medieval Irish bees had a legal status because they were classified as domestic livestock.

Chris Doyle, Lecturer in Ancient and Medieval History, University of Galway·May 20, 2026

The Conversation

How a shifting Nile landscape shaped the rise of the ancient empire of Kush in Sudan

The ancient Kush city of Jebel Barkal rose up in the Nile River Valley starting around 2000 BCE. New research dug deep to learn more about what this landscape was like over the past 4,000 years.

Geoff Emberling, Research Scientist in Archaeology, University of Michigan·May 19, 2026

Public Books

The Novel as Instrument: Sinan Antoon and Michael Allan

Our partner podcast Novel Dialogue invites a novelist and a literary critic to talk about novels from every angle: how we read them, write them, publish them, and remember them. This season’s signature question is: Who was your favorite teacher and why? “I am haunted by history: the history of dictatorship, the history of empire, […] The post The Novel as Instrument: Sinan Antoon and Michael Allan appeared first on Public Books.

Megan Cummins·May 22, 2026

The Paris Review

Barthelme, the Houstonian

“Barthelme died in 1989, at the age of fifty-eight. I was at college and heard the news from a friend who worked at a Kinko’s to which one of the Barthelme brothers had brought Don Jr.’s will.”

Susan Choi·May 22, 2026

Literary Hub

Here are the finalists for this year’s $20,000 DAG Prize for Literature.

Today, the DAG Foundation announced the five finalists for the DAG Prize for Literature, which grants $20,000 to “an early-career prose writer whose work expands the possibilities for American writing.” The prize, now in its second year, is given by musicians

Literary Hub·May 18, 2026

Literary Hub

Lit Hub Weekly: May 18 – 22, 2026

“I never imagined reading books and turning them into movies was a job.” It is, and if you can read a book every two days (and write a book report about it), it could be yours… | Lit Hub Film

Lit Hub Daily·May 23, 2026