Story, Rhyme, & Song with Kay Pelham

09/01/2026

Wendell Erdman Berry (August 5, 1934 – August 31, 2026)

08/19/2026

Tonight!

TONIGHT at 7 PM ET - Join Dr. Michael Drout as he guides us through the history of a genre through some of its biggest names in his new webinar "A Look Back at the Future: 100 Years of Science Fiction."

For close to a century Science Fiction has been one of the most popular—and one of the least critically respected—genres of fiction. This lecture follows the evolution of Science Fiction from its origins in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein to its present-day pop-culture dominance, paying particular attention to the way the genre separated from its siblings Fantasy and Horror.

This webinar will go live tonight and will be available as a recording afterwards with lifetime access. Register now at the link in the comments!

08/13/2026

Next week!

New Webinar from Dr. Michael Drout Coming in August! Sign up now by clicking the link in the comments or by visiting the House of Humane Letters website!

For close to a century Science Fiction has been one of the most popular—and one of the least critically respected—genres of fiction. This lecture follows the evolution of Science Fiction from its origins in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein to its present-day pop-culture dominance, paying particular attention to the way the genre separated from its siblings Fantasy and Horror.

We will trace the evolution of Sci-Fi from the ‘pulp’ works of H.P. Lovecraft in the 1930s, through the ‘hard-boiled’ stories of Robert Heinlein and A.E. van Vogt in the ’40s, and into the ‘Golden Age’ of the 1950s and 60s, when much of the best work of Isaac Asimov, Fritz Leiber, and Theodore Sturgeon was published. Although the further diversification of the genre makes it somewhat more challenging to follow a single path in 1960s and ’70s, we can see the effects of a turn towards the ‘social’ and ‘revolutionary’ in the writings of Ursula Le Guin, Harlan Ellison, Phillip K. Dick, and Octavia Butler. Building on these foundations, the 1980’s “Cyberpunk Revolution” brought innovations in literary style to the genre that we can trace further into the aesthetically accomplished Sci-Fi of the ’90s and 2000s and in the fragmented but still massively influential Science Fiction of the present day.

My goal in this lecture is to sketch out the broad literary history of the genre’s development, showing students where their own favorite Sci-Fi fits, and suggesting further authors and works that might be appealing.

Instructor: Dr. Michael Drout

Meet Time: This webinar will stream live on August 19th, 2026 at 7:00 PM ET with a runtime of approximately 90-120 minutes. The recording will be made available with lifetime access the next day in your HHL customer account.

Individual Price: $18 (Non-Refundable)

Family Price for 3 or more students: $50 (Non-Refundable)

Recommended Age: This webinar can be enjoyed by readers of all ages.

08/10/2026

TONIGHT!

08/10/2026

Welcome back to The Literary Life Podcast and a new book discussion series! Listen to our first episode on "Watership Down" at the link in the comments or wherever you stream your podcasts!

This month, Angelina and Thomas will be covering Richard Adams’ Watership Down. Beginning of their commonplace quotes, they talk about the background of this book and what type of story this is, as well as how Angelina is approaching this first read. Thomas gives some biographical information on Richard Adams, including the publishing challenges facing Adams. Angelina highlights the epigraphs beginning each chapter and their significance.

Some of the other topics Thomas and Angelina share their thoughts about include the classical references in these chapters, the allegory of the journey of the soul, and the archetypes and obstacles that we may see in the rest of the book. Join us again next week for chapters 11-21!

07/17/2026

New Webinar from Dr. Michael Drout Coming in August! Sign up now by clicking the link in the comments or by visiting the House of Humane Letters website!

For close to a century Science Fiction has been one of the most popular—and one of the least critically respected—genres of fiction. This lecture follows the evolution of Science Fiction from its origins in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein to its present-day pop-culture dominance, paying particular attention to the way the genre separated from its siblings Fantasy and Horror.

We will trace the evolution of Sci-Fi from the ‘pulp’ works of H.P. Lovecraft in the 1930s, through the ‘hard-boiled’ stories of Robert Heinlein and A.E. van Vogt in the ’40s, and into the ‘Golden Age’ of the 1950s and 60s, when much of the best work of Isaac Asimov, Fritz Leiber, and Theodore Sturgeon was published. Although the further diversification of the genre makes it somewhat more challenging to follow a single path in 1960s and ’70s, we can see the effects of a turn towards the ‘social’ and ‘revolutionary’ in the writings of Ursula Le Guin, Harlan Ellison, Phillip K. Dick, and Octavia Butler. Building on these foundations, the 1980’s “Cyberpunk Revolution” brought innovations in literary style to the genre that we can trace further into the aesthetically accomplished Sci-Fi of the ’90s and 2000s and in the fragmented but still massively influential Science Fiction of the present day.

My goal in this lecture is to sketch out the broad literary history of the genre’s development, showing students where their own favorite Sci-Fi fits, and suggesting further authors and works that might be appealing.

Instructor: Dr. Michael Drout

Meet Time: This webinar will stream live on August 19th, 2026 at 7:00 PM ET with a runtime of approximately 90-120 minutes. The recording will be made available with lifetime access the next day in your HHL customer account.

Individual Price: $18 (Non-Refundable)

Family Price for 3 or more students: $50 (Non-Refundable)

Recommended Age: This webinar can be enjoyed by readers of all ages.

06/27/2026

Graphic by Esther Bills

06/17/2026

The class we've all been waiting for! Dr. Michael Drout will join up with HHL again next Spring to teach a 16-week class on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. Check out the link in the comments to see the full description, the booklist, and register for a spot!

"Although J.R.R. Tolkien is one of the best-selling and most influential writers of the past 100 years, it took the massive popular-culture success of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films to get academia to begin to grudgingly recognize his literary achievement. Last century, when I was interviewing for my first academic job, I was advised to “tone down” my enthusiasm for Tolkien’s work. Thirty years later, no one objects to there being courses on Tolkien in elite institutions. And that is a good thing, because I am looking forward to teaching “Tolkien’s Creation,” a 16-week course for the House of Humane Letters in Spring 2027.

In “Tolkien’s Creation” we will work steadily through The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion as well as some of Tolkien’s translations and adaptations of medieval works that inspired him, including Beowulf, The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and Pearl. We will also study three minor works, Farmer Giles of Ham, Leaf by Ni**le, and the enigmatic Smith of Wootton Major, and we will examine some Tolkien’s scholarship, including his famous essay “Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics.”

By the end of the course we have increased our knowledge and enriched our appreciation of the evolution, literary history, aesthetic achievement, moral significance, and emotional power of Tolkien’s great creation."