On July 30, 1924, widely esteemed novelist, short story writer, essayist, mentor, friend, and Washington University Professor Emeritus William H. Gass was born — 100 years later, WashU honored his life, legacy, and impact with a commemorative centenary celebration.  On Thursday, Oct. 3, former colleagues, friends, and students of Gass gathered in WashU’s Holmes Lounge for a series of programs aimed at carrying on his influence.  Thanks to the Department of Special Collections, Olin Library is host to a new exhibition titled “William H. Gass: Fifty New Acquisitions,” which consists of 50 items (e.g. drafts, manuscripts, correspondence, artwork, etc.) that […]

Mohamed Mbougar Sarr, the 2021 winner of France’s most prestigious literary prize, the Prix Goncourt, gave a talk titled “(In)visible writer, for whom do you sing?” during a conference sponsored by the French Connexions Center of Excellence on Oct. 30.

When you have as much reading to do as the average Washington University student, it’s easy to completely let pleasure reading fall by the wayside. But part of college is expanding your mind and exposing yourself to a wide variety of classics.

What does September 11, 2001, mean for our generation—for those of us currently around college age? How did we experience those events that in the minds of many mark a paradigmatic shift in national and world history? When we were 13 or 12 or 11 or 10 years of age, what did the most massive terrorist attack we have seen, upon the nation in which we lived, mean to us?

Chief among the joys of literature is a savory, self-aggrandizing contempt for the thumb-sucking twits with whom you are unfairly forced to share the planet.