Literature - Atlas Obscura
Places near me Random place

575 Items Tagged

Literature

Share Tweet
The Paddington Bear statue at Paddington station.
London, England

Paddington Bear Statue

After nearly 60 years, there's still a bear at Paddington Station looking for help.
The home.
houses

Jack Kerouac's Last Home to Be Sold

His nephew says it will become a museum.
Erik Shilling April 4, 2017
The desk drawer covered in haiku.
music

A Forgotten Desk Drawer Hid a Poetic Pop Culture Gem

How haikus written during a boozy night found their way back to their famed authors.
Shin Yu Pai April 3, 2017
Ramona in the Beverly Cleary Sculpture Park.
Portland, Oregon

Beverly Cleary Sculpture Garden

Statues of Ramona Quimby, Henry Huggins, and Ribsy the dog in the park where their adventures "really happened."
Now that's a clutch of healthy babies.
literature

Frogs Made Famous by Mark Twain Are Finally Laying Eggs Again

The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County is on the comeback trail.
Eric Grundhauser March 24, 2017
'The Little Prince' statue at the Northport-East Northport Public Library
Northport, New York

The Little Prince Statue

This graceful little figure is a one-of-a-kind version of the cherished character.
The woman who would be known as Cherubina de Gabriak.
literature

The Russian Poetry Scandal That Ended in a Duel

Remembering the Cherubina de Gabriak hoax of 1909.
Eric Grundhauser March 17, 2017
Plaque commemorating the fake altercation.
Lowell, Massachusetts

Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs Fight Plaque

The two writers famously didn't come to blows over the Oxford comma.
Centro Habana heading towards the Barrio Chino, home of the old Shanghai Theatre.
literature

Exploring Cuba, Guided by Graham Greene

'Our Man in Havana' was published at the end of 1958, and much of the city it describes remains intact.
Luke Spencer February 20, 2017
film

Found: A Glimpse of Marcel Proust, Caught on Film

This is the first known footage of the famous author.
Sarah Laskow February 16, 2017
Caresse Crosby takes a ride around the grounds of her castle, Rocca Sinibald, in 1964.
literature

The Improbable Life of the Inventor of the Modern Bra

She was also a pioneering publisher and, later, a princess.
Mackenzi Lee February 15, 2017
"Edgar Allan Poe Square" in the Boston Common, near the place where Poe was born.
edgar allan poe

10 Places That Rejected Poe in Life But Celebrate Him in Death

Edgar Allan Poe gets the recognition he deserves in the afterlife.
Molly McBride Jacobson February 9, 2017
The Western Wall Tunnel.
churches

6 Stops on the Hunt for the Holy Grail

Tracing history’s most elusive holy relic will lead you to these real places. 
Meg Neal February 6, 2017
The south face of the Ruthwell Cross in the apse.
Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland

The Ruthwell Cross

An Anglo-Saxon cross inscribed with possibly the oldest written work of English literature.
Dickens at work.
maps

Why the London of British Literature Barely Changed for 200 Years

An innovative mapping project uncovers just how limited the literary version of the city has often been.
Sarah Laskow February 2, 2017
Bucharest, Romania

Curtea Veche (Old Princely Court)

The bust of Romania’s most notorious ruler, Vlad Dracula aka "Vlad the Impaler," keeps watch over the ruins of his medieval court.
While Beatrix Potter's "Two Bad Mice" weren't really so bad, Gustave Doré's engraved rats are menacing.
rats

Why Are Rats Always the Bad Guys?

And mice always heroes? Experts trace the history of typecasting rodents.
Cara Giaimo January 25, 2017
Prague, Czechia

Hlava Franze Kafky (Franz Kafka's Head)

A bust of Franz Kafka spins in pieces, reflecting the writer's inner torment.