Kavanagh’s poem looks to Advent for a sort of poetic and spiritual rebirth, a chance to reacquaint ourselves with the “newness that was in every stale thing.”

Beyond all its virtuosity and shine, James Merrill's writing style always had a canny, wry and often mensch-like grasp of human nature.

Jonathan Franzen remains among the select few novelists who can vie for a Pulitzer Prize and the top spot on best-seller lists every time out of the gate. His new novel might win him both.

Twice a year we publish an extra issue of America dedicated to books and all things literary; one in planting season and one at harvest time.

This man, this woman are the city

To hear what sirens was Jesus Christ nailed to a tree, unable to move?