Literative

We begin our reading of The Enchanted April, Elizabeth von Arnim's beloved 1922 novel. Chapter 1: On a miserably rainy London day, Mrs. Wilkins and Mrs. Arbuthnot meet over a newspaper advertisement: "To Those who Appreciate Wistaria and Sunshine."Literative is now on Patreon! Readers who join for free can access the Literative library of published episodes or use the collections to find your next listen. Our paid subscribers, Friends of the Pod, enjoy early access to all new episodes as well as bonus content, peeks behind the scenes, AND online discussions of everything we read. Get the full story at www.patreon.com/Literative!Resources:Elizabeth von Arnim, The Enchanted April. Project Gutenberg. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/16389 Credits:Thumbnail image: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/16389/pg16389-images.htmlMusic licensed through Soundstripe. Wildest Dreams: Code BP9IXYMBYXVSIIRHFeather and Stone: Code ZG5WOI1LDMX3SB0P

Today we go on to Chapter 2 of The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim. Mrs. Wilkins and Mrs. Arbuthnot respond to the advertisement about the Italian castle, but Mrs. Arbuthnot struggles to justify (even to herself) her desire for a holiday.Literative is now on Patreon! Readers who join for free can access the Literative library of published episodes or use the collections to find your next listen. Our paid subscribers, Friends of the Pod, enjoy early access to all new episodes as well as bonus content, peeks behind the scenes, AND online discussions of everything we read. Get the full story at www.patreon.com/Literative!Resources:Elizabeth von Arnim, The Enchanted April. Project Gutenberg. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/16389 Credits:Thumbnail image: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/16389/pg16389-images.htmlMusic licensed through Soundstripe. Code: 7ZK85UKDEJPMONUM, OUKHOIWDC1L9P01P, 2ETYVHYMSF6OCAAD

Welcome to Literative's Fall 2026 schedule! I'm very excited to announce our first read-along: The Enchanted April (1922) by Elizabeth von Arnim. Today I'll introduce the novel and the author, and I'll drop new chapters each week. I'm also delighted to invite you to our new Patreon community.  Readers who join for free can access the Literative library of published episodes or use the collections to find your next listen.  Our paid subscribers, Friends of the Pod, enjoy early access to all new episodes as well as bonus content, peeks behind the scenes, AND online discussions of everything we read. Get the full story at www.patreon.com/Literative!Resources:Atwood, Margaret. The Penelopiad: The Myth of Penelope and Odysseus. 2006.Galsworthy, John. The Forsyte Saga. 1906-1921. Von Arnim, Elizabeth. The Enchanted April.  1922. Walker, Jennifer. Elizabeth of the German Garden – A Literary Journey: A biography of Elizabeth von Arnim.  2021.Wilson, Emily, trans. The Odyssey by Homer. 2018. Music licensed through Soundstripe. Code: X2DUBFBQIBULGZ0T

July is what you meant when you promised yourself that this summer you would get back to that project and make some real progress. But it’s sooo hot. Here's a strategy that can help you get started and enter a flow state. Try it as a writing exercise or let April guide you through a meditation. Happy doing!Resources:Fiore, Neil. The Now Habit: A Strategic Program for Overcoming Procrastination and Enjoying Guilt-Free Play. https://www.neilfiore.com/now-habit/Music licensed through Soundstripe:"Feather and Stone." Code: RB7DYDIIEEOA83W3"Orbiting Drift." Code: 9G4U2X3DEWWBZ63V

Today I'm delighted to introduce my first guest speaker, professor and theater director Leslie Reidel. Leslie shares his strategy of using Shakespeare's sonnets as training exercises for professional and student actors.Resources:Shakespeare, William. Sonnet 29 ("When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes"). https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45106/sonnet-116-let-me-not-to-the-marriage-of-true-minds---. Sonnet 71 ("No longer mourn for me when I am dead"). https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45098/sonnet-71-no-longer-mourn-for-me-when-i-am-dead---. Sonnet 116 ("Let me not to the marriage of true minds"). https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45106/sonnet-116-let-me-not-to-the-marriage-of-true-mindsLeslie Reidel:Leslie Reidel is a professor of theater at the University of Delaware, where his projects with the Resident Ensemble Players have included Love Letters, The Little Foxes, and Shakespeare's Macbeth.He was a founding member of the Professional Theater Training Program at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the University of Delaware.His directorial credits include the Walnut Street Theater, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, the Madison Civi Rep, and the Utah, Colorado, and Fort Worth Shakespeare Festivals.He is the Co-Artistic Director of Philadelphia's Enchantment Theatre Company. And he has recently directed the Two Gentleman of Verona Project with undergraduates at the University of Delaware.Music licensed through Soundstripe:“Feather and Stone.” Code: NHFB28SBGNWXPEVW,

This poem has been illustrated by Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Arthur Rackham. It has been framed as a children's book, a warning about consumerism and addiction, a cautionary tale about sex, a Christian allegory about sin and redemption, and a feminist fable about sisterly solidarity. It’s even made a truly bizarre appearance in Playboy Magazine!  Welcome to the weird world of Christina Rossetti's Goblin Market.Resources:Rossetti, Christina. Goblin Market. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44996/goblin-marketRossetti, Dante Gabriel. "Buy from us with a golden curl." 1862. Illustration for Christina Rossetti's Goblin Market and Other Poems. Scanned image by Simon Cooke, with caption material and formatting by George P. Landow. Victorian Web. https://victorianweb.org/art/illustration/dgr/1.html---. "Golden head by golden head." 1862. Illustration for Christina Rossetti's Goblin Market and Other Poems. Scanned image and text by George P. Landow. Victorian Web. https://victorianweb.org/art/illustration/dgr/2.html

June is the month of midsummer magic. Celebrate the solstice with us as we read W. B. Yeats’ poem “The Stolen Child” and leave the mundane world behind.Resources:Hughes, Edward Robert. “Midsummer Eve.” https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Edward_Robert_Hughes_-_Midsummer_Eve_(1908c).jpgMcKennitt, Loreena. “The Stolen Child.” Elemental, Quinlan Road, 1985. Composed by Loreena McKennitt. https://loreenamckennitt.com/album/elemental/---. The Stolen Child Project. Falstaff Family Centre. https://www.falstafffamilycentre.com/stolenchildoldThe Waterboys. “The Stolen Child.” Fisherman’s Blues, Chrysalis Music, 1988. Composed by Mike Scott, narration by Tomás Mac Eoin. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDkK4VrmFQQYeats, W. B. “The Stolen Child.” https://poets.org/poem/stolen-childMusic licensed through Soundstripe:“Feather and Stone.” Code: NHFB28SBGNWXPEVW,“Faded Promises.” Code: TFIXDAM4LDDS4Q6X

This is a test of the public library system and American democracy. This is only a test. To prevent an actual emergency, please stay on the line for the following public service announcement and support your local library.Resources:American Library Association. https://www.ala.org/·     Advocacy & Issues: https://www.ala.org/advocacy·     Freedom to Read Statement: https://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/freedomreadstatement·     Membership: https://www.ala.org/membership·     State of America’s Libraries Report: https://www.ala.org/news/state-americas-libraries-report-2026Everylibrary. https://www.everylibrary.org/·     Endorsing the Books Save Lives Act of 2026. 28 May 2026. https://www.everylibrary.org/endorsing_books_save_lives_act_2026·     Statement in Support of the Open Books, Open Doors Act. 28 May 2026. https://www.everylibrary.org/statements4028·     Statement: Rejecting the FY2027 Trump IMLS Budget. 5 April 2026. https://www.everylibrary.org/rejecting_fy27_trump_imls_budgetHelmick, Sam. “The Architecture of Democracy: Choosing the Future of America’s Libraries.” https://www.ala.org/news/state-americas-libraries-report-2026---. “Since You’re Already Doing Everything Else.” Facebook. 17 May 2026.Hoopla. https://www.hoopladigital.com/Institute of Museum and Library Services. https://www.imls.gov/Kanopy. https://www.kanopy.com/enLibby. http://libbyapp.com

April showers bring May flowers, along with longer days, warmer nights, and constant birdsong. So why are poets in such a mood about spring?  Maybe because all that new life is hard to take when you’re grieving a loss or coping with change. Now that we’re well into May, might we look back and agree with T. S. Eliot? Was April the cruelest month?Resources:Braganza, V. M. “Our Second April.” Los Angeles Review of Books (24 May 2021). https://lareviewofbooks.org/blog/essays/second-april/  Chaucer, Geoffrey. General Prologue to The Canterbury Tales. Harvard’s Geoffrey Chaucer Website. Harvard University.  https://chaucer.fas.harvard.edu/pages/general-prologue-0Dickinson, Emily. “In Shadow” (I dreaded that first robin so). Poems by Emily Dickinson, ed. Mabel Loomis Todd and T. W. Higginson.  https://www.gutenberg.org/files/12242/12242-h/12242-h.htm#I_dreaded_that_first_robin_soEliot, T. S. “The Waste Land.”  Poetry Foundation. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47311/the-waste-landHoney Bee Suite. “Good News Bees: More than a Colorful Buzz in the Blooms” (15 April 2023). https://www.honeybeesuite.com/good-news-bees-more-than-a-colorful-buzz-in-the-blooms/Millay, Edna St. Vincent. “Assault.” Second April. A Celebration of Women Writers, ed. Mary Mark Ockerbloom. University of Pennsylvania. https://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/millay/april/second-april.html#32---. “Spring.” https://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/millay/april/second-april.html#1Portus, Rosamund. “The Stories We Tell: Exploring the Folklore of Bees in an Age of Extinction.” NICHE (4 November 2022). https://niche-canada.org/2022/11/04/the-stories-we-tell-exploring-the-folklore-of-bees-in-an-age-of-extinction/