Arts & Letters
A selection of recent articles on this topic
Quantitative Judgments Don’t Apply
For years I have aspired to read Evelyn Waugh’s Sword of Honour trilogy. But bound together the…
Delicious Longing
One day around 1836, in the ancient city of Dijon, the young French poet Aloysius Bertrand was…
Disney Adulting (ft. Veronica Clarke)
In this episode, Veronica Clarke joins Germán and Virginia (who are subbing in for R. R. Reno)…
Tennyson’s Poetic Faith
Richard Holmes’s new biography, The Boundless Deep, depicts how Alfred Lord Tennyson absorbed the scientific discoveries of…
Letters—June/July 2026
The sentimental images painted of proud, tight-knit communities slowly crumbling away are compelling, but I have to…
Briefly Noted
What if Flannery O’Connor had been forced to live through Australia’s COVID-19 lockdowns and its surrounding political…
Paul Celan’s Via Negativa
In the twentieth century the messengers shot themselves. Most did so metaphorically, of course, though a few…
Birds
I wait for themthis dark spun dawn,kinglet, titmouse, nuthatch, wren,names so sweet on winter’s frozen tongue,such feathered…
Irises
Only he could see them clearly: the wayThey curl their shadows close beneath their leaves, Cupping clefts of…
Tool and Toy
When you select the proper tools to use,favor those that make delightful toys,like whistling tops driven by…
What We’ve Been Reading—Spring 2026
R. R. RenoEditor Some years ago, I read Parade’s End by Ford Madox Ford. It’s a four-volume…
The Devil Wears Prada 2 Celebrates Elitism
There is a scene in The Devil Wears Prada 2 in which Miranda Priestly, the eminent editor…
The Other Bennet Sister Is an Antidote to Modern Dating
The Other Bennet Sister is the best costume drama I’ve seen in years. The story begins in…
Conservative Culture Isn’t Real (ft. Dave Greene)
In this episode, essayist and YouTuber Dave Greene joins Virginia and Germán to discuss “conservative art.” Can…
Third Annual Poetry Prize Open for Submissions
The third annual First Things Poetry Prize is now open for submissions. Started in 2024, the prize…
