Literature

Edible Books at the Kelly Writers House

The annual Edible Books contest at the Kelly Writers House features food creations inspired by books, often involving puns based on the titles. In this 14th year, 30-some entries were admired and (mostly) eaten.

Louisa Shepard

Libraries exhibition explores the movement of books

A new exhibit at the Penn Libraries explores the myriad ways books move—as physical objects in different formats, and across space and time—featuring 24 items from the collection, a video wall displaying 26 additional items, and interactive models.

Louisa Shepard

The English major’s cheerleader and champion

Bestselling author Jennifer Egan taught an undergraduate literature course in the spring as an English Department artist in residence in the School of Arts & Sciences. A 1985 Penn graduate, she is a passionate advocate for the English major, the humanities, and a liberal arts education.

Louisa Shepard

Josephine Park on authoring identity

The School of Arts & Sciences President’s Distinguished Professor of English discusses the way literature has influenced the experience of being Asian American in the United States.

Blake Cole

Measuring readers of romance

Researchers at Penn's Price Lab for Digital Humanities conducted a quantitative analysis of the romance genre, studying thousands of avid readers and the hundreds of thousands of books in their collections in Goodreads

Louisa Shepard

A humanities pathway to pre-med

Pre-med students majoring in English, theatre, history, and other humanities fields find satisfaction in tapping into multiple interests—and see benefits for a career in medicine.

Erica Moser

‘Ladysitting’ on stage 

The new play “Ladysitting” at the Arden Theatre Co. is by Penn English faculty and alumna Lorene Cary, based on her memoir about caring for her grandmother in the last of her 101 years.

Louisa Shepard



Media Contact


In the News


Philadelphia Inquirer

Penn has preserved a pair of gloves said to belong to Shakespeare. Did they?

Alicia Meyer and Tessa Gadomski of Penn Libraries are researching whether a pair of centuries-old gloves belonged to Shakespeare, with remarks from Zachary Lesser of the School of Arts & Sciences.

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The New York Times

‘Millions of Cats’ and prints for grown-ups: Wanda Gág at the Whitney

The manuscript for illustrator Wanda Gág’s diary, “Growing Pains,” is archived in the Kislak Center at Penn Libraries.

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Forbes

How to give away a $500,000 comic book collection

Alumnus Gary Prebula and his wife, Dawn, have donated a $500,000 comic book collection to Penn Libraries.

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Forbes

How to donate 80,000 comic books—and get a marvelous tax break

Alumnus Gary Prebula and his wife, Dawn, have donated a $500,000 collection of more than 75,000 comic books and graphic novels to Penn Libraries, featuring remarks from Sean Quimby of the Kislak Center.

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The New York Times

Jerome Rothenberg, who expanded the sphere of poetry, dies at 92

Charles Bernstein of the School of Arts & Sciences says that the late Jerome Rothenberg was the ultimate hyphenated person: a poet-critic-anthologist-translator.

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Philadelphia Inquirer

A collector donated 75,000 comic books to Penn Libraries, valued at more than $500,000

Alumnus Gary Prebula and his wife, Dawn, have donated a $500,000 collection of more than 75,000 comic books and graphic novels to Penn Libraries, featuring remarks from Sean Quimly of the Kislak Center and Jean-Christophe Cloutier of the School of Arts & Sciences.

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