“For oft, when on my couch I lie In vacant or in pensive mood, They flash upon that inward eye Which is the bliss of solitude; And then my heart with pleasure fills, And dances with the daffodils.” – William Wordsworth, “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” (1807) Since 1999 World Poetry Day celebrates and recognises intercultural, linguistic […]
Most of us remember the stories, fairytales, fables and anecdotes our parents, grandparents and educators told us once. Ever since, quite a few of us have changed roles and become enthusiastic story-tellers. Today, on World Storytelling Day, we celebrate the rich and colourful heritage of an intercultural art, which also marks the first blog entry of […]
“If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all.”― Oscar Wilde What do Lit4School and St. Patrick’s Day have in common? Well, both celebrate the rich cultural heritage of classic and contemporary Irish literature. Named after St. Patrick, who probably was not the first but the most popular […]
A book doesn’t always have to have academic value to be worth reading. I’ve compiled some of my favourite novels, movies and shows to read or watch outside of the classroom – just for fun! Novels: In case you loved The Hunger Games, you should take a look at the recently published prequel! A Ballad […]
Dear users, Growing up is a process that all of us have to go through. Lit4School started as a vision in June 2018, became reality with our prototype, which was launched in April 2019 and grew into our final version, which has been available since November 2019. Ever since, we’ve been working on publishing new entries and […]
“Read anything. Read the things they say are good for you, and the things they claim are junk. You’ll find what you need to find.” – Neil Gaiman As Neil Gaiman points out in the introductory quote: literature is an exciting adventure to embark on, a journey, which will take us to the most unusual places, […]
“The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men Gang aft agley,An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain, For promis’d joy!” – Robert Burns Steinberg’s tragical novel Of Mice and Men (1937) features two unequal friends during the Great Depression – the hardship of farm labourers in the face of unattainable dreams. The author of […]
“Make me immortal with a kiss.” – Christopher Marlowe, Doctor Faustus First things first: It is not Christopher Marlowe‘s birthday today but he was christened on February 26th 1564 – his exact date of birth remains unknown. Marlow, also known as “Kit”, was an Elizabethan author, playwright and translator. His most famous work is Doctor Faustus about whom Johann Wolfgang […]
“Books are a form of political action. Books are knowledge. Books are reflection. Books change your mind.” – Toni Morrison Chloe Anthony Wofford Morrison, aka Toni Morrison, was a well-established American essayist, novelist, book editor, and college professor. In the late 1960s, she became the first black female book editor at Random House in New […]
“When in doubt go to the library.” – J. K. Rowling Founded once in Australia, the #LibraryLoversDay and #LibraryLoversMonth celebrate reading, book enthusiasm and the rich tradition of libraries all around the world: The first libraries, a word derived from Ancient Greek originally meaning ‘bookcase’, date bake to 2600 BC. Today, their collection also includes video games, […]
“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” – Alice Walker We would like to wish a happy birthday to Alice Walker today! Not only has she shaped the world with her literary accomplishments, but her social activism as well. Winner of the National Literary Award and […]
Created in 2000, World Cancer Day aims to raise awareness for and improve education surrounding this devastating disease that affects so many people’s lives. True to this year’s motto I Am and I Will!, the Union for International Cancer Control offers educational resources as well as suggestions on how to take action and make a […]
“Let America be America again, let it be the dream it used to be.” – Langston Hughes These first lines taken from Hughes’ poem “Let America be America again” (1935) seem now more topical than ever: In 2020 police violence, institutional racism and discrimination remained a current issue in the United States and beyond. Never has the ‘pursuit of […]
The 27th of January marks the date of the liberation of the Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau by Soviet troops in 1945. The International Holocaust Remembrance Day commemorates the genocide that resulted in the deaths of 6 million Jews, two-thirds of Europe’s Jewish population. Here are some examples of literature to help approach […]
On January 20, 2021, the world tuned in to watch US-President Joe Biden’s inauguration ceremony but viewers around the globe were also rewarded with a brilliant display of the power of words: 22-year-old Amanda Gorman, the youngest inaugural poet in US history, recited her poem The Hill We Climb to a stunned audience everywhere. Both painfully honest […]
“You have to take care of democracy. As soon as you stop being responsible to it and allow it to turn into scare tactics, it’s no longer democracy, is it? It’s something else. It may be an inch away from totalitarianism.” – Sam Shepard in The Village Voice, November 17, 2004 Donald Trump has officially […]
“One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship.” – George Orwell, 1984 On Wednesday, January 6th, 2021, a crowd of supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump attempted to overturn his defeat in the presidential election by violently occupying a joint session […]
“Reading is my favourite occupation, when I have leisure for it and books to read.” – Anne Brontë, Agnes Grey (1847) Anne Brontë was born as the youngest of six children. Her health was fragile, so she was mostly schooled at home. Her siblings and she started writing at a young age inventing the fantasy […]