literature | Europeana Blog

Chapbooks: the poor person’s reading material

Books were expensive in Scotland between the 17th and 19th centuries. But literacy was comparatively high, and people were keen on reading. There was a large market for cheap, easy-to-get reading material: so-called street literature because it was simply sold on the streets.

Five of the finest (anti-)heroines from European literature

This post began with an idea to write about great female characters in European literature. Those that break the mould. Doing a little bit of research, the term ‘anti-heroine’ came up. And so did a range of characters who could fall into that category (see below for more on them). So I started to look […]

Ivan Cankar – The Writer, The Migrant

Zala Mojca Jerman Kuželički of National and University Library in Slovenia introduces us to Ivan Cankar, who died 100 years ago today and is regarded as the greatest writer in the Slovene language.

The Place of Literature in the World of Newspapers

In France, the important development of including literature in the press began with the launch of ‘La Presse‘ in 1836 by Emile de Girardin. He cut the subscription rate to his daily newspaper in half by speculating on advertising to cover the costs.

Emile Zola: Novelist and Journalist

A true writer-journalist, Emile Zola successfully managed both activities for about 20 years, at first out of financial necessity before he became a successful author, but also by conviction.

Detail of a miniature a mermaid with a mirror and comb, from the lower margin of the folio.

Mixed-up mermaids

The Deutsches Historiches Museum #DHMMeer in Berlin is running a Europe and the sea blog parade from 20-25 July 2018, asking people to share posts on the theme ‘What does the sea mean to me?’ To me, one of the things it means is mermaids. So I revisited a post I wrote a while ago on […]

Stories of a seducer – Mozart, the myth of Don Juan and his literary impact

Each month, Europeana Music examines a particular theme from the world of music. For the month of July , Gabriele Fröschl from the Österreichische Mediathek takes a look at the character of Don Juan as portrayed in Mozart’s opera and elsewhere. The legend of Don Juan is one of the most famous stories in […]

#AllezLiterature – celebrate the power of poetry

This World Poetry Day (21 March), we are inviting you to join a month long social media salute to poetry from across Europe. From the Romantics to War poetry and from Burns to Punk, discover, share and interact with selected poems in Europeana Collections. UNESCO World Poetry Day celebrates our shared human experience, the continued […]

Jane Austen and zombies, and other literary mash-ups

Europeana talks a lot about encouraging the use of its collections by professionals in the creative industries. I’m a fiction writer. As such, I’d consider myself part of the creative industries. So, how could I use Europeana’s collections in my creative endeavours? For artists and designers, the concept of using whole parts or aspects of […]

Dora Gabe, Bulgarian poet and social activist

Dora and her sister Bela. Varna Public Library, CC0. Today is the 126th birth anniversary of Bulgarian poet, children’s writer and social activist Dora Gabe (26 August 1888 – 16 November 1983). Not much information in English exists about this prolific writer. The child of a Russian immigrant, she was born and raised in Dobrogea, Bulgaria. She wrote […]

Europeana – your eBook library

Stuck for something to read? Never fear – Europeana is never more than a couple of clicks away. Thanks to the digitisation efforts of our partners, there are many classic books you can find on Europeana and read online – in a variety of languages – for free and without having to buy an expensive […]

Map with bullet hole from the remains of Walter Flex

The memory of the First World War, its events and consequences, its victims and victors, remains very much alive today. It has become part of the individual and collective memory of Europe and of countries across the world – the stories of soldiers and their families continue to be told and published from generation to […]

Once upon a time… From Brothers Grimm to political correctness

Once upon a time… four words that conjure up images of fairy tales. Princesses and castles, talking animals, love and magic, Prince Charmings and happily ever afters. But the tales written down by the Brothers Grimm were not so sweet. (I say ‘written down’ and not ‘written’ because versions of many of the stories were […]

Tolstoy – novelist and anarchist

‘We can know only that we know nothing. And that is the highest degree of human wisdom.’ Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace. Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy, also known as Leo Tolstoy, was born on 9 September 1828 to a family of old Russian nobility. Tolstoy married Sophia Andreevna Behrs, known as ‘Sonya’ in 1862 and […]

Suspending disbelief with Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Samuel Taylor Coleridge, author of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Kubla Khan died on 25 July 1834. Europeana contains a great collection relating to Coleridge, from a variety of sources including institutions in the UK, Germany and Poland. Coleridge was an English poet, literary critic and philosopher, a friend of poet William Wordsworth, […]

European Literature Night

15 May is European Literature Night and events are happening across the continent – check out what’s going on where you are. The concept, according to the official European Literature Night website, is ‘One night – many experiences: public readings of contemporary literature performed by well known personalities at attractive and unusual venues in cities […]