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5 days ago | 
pensandpoison.org | Liza Libes
Though this particular opinion of mine is bound to draw ire, I stand by it firmly. So today, I’d like to present my case for why Toni Morrison is perhaps the most overrated author in all of human history.
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2 weeks ago | 
pensandpoison.org | Liza Libes
This essay is dedicated to my beloved fiancé—my other half. At some point in your life, you’ve probably embarked on the “search for your other half.”At the age of twelve, the precocious Liza Libes read somewhere that the concept of the “search for your other half” has its origins in Plato’s Symposium. If I was not already a romantic by late middle school, I certainly became one by the time I finished Plato’s second-most famous dialogue, and would remain a romantic for the rest of my life.
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3 weeks ago | 
pensandpoison.org | Liza Libes
I thought that we had hit rock bottom with English pedagogy when the National Council of Teachers of English proclaimed in 2022 that “the time has come to decenter book reading and essay writing as the pinnacles of English language arts education.”Nope. There’s a new plague on the rise in English classrooms, and it might be infinitely worse—AI-adapted texts.
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3 weeks ago | 
pensandpoison.org | Liza Libes |Peter Biles
Welcome back to the Pens and Poison Podcast!This is not your ordinary literature podcast. Join me as I explore the state of humanities education, the publishing industry, and the literary world at large through a series of spicy interviews, hot takes, and literary ramblings. On today’s episode, I talked to Peter Biles, the author of the short story collection Last November. His writing has been featured in Plough, The Gospel Coalition, Dappled Things, and several others.
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3 weeks ago | 
mindingthecampus.org | Liza Libes
I thought that we had hit rock bottom with English pedagogy when the National Council of Teachers of English proclaimed in 2022 that “the time has come to decenter book reading and essay writing as the pinnacles of English language arts education.”There’s a new plague on the rise in English classrooms, and it might be infinitely worse—AI-adapted texts.
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1 month ago | 
pensandpoison.org | Liza Libes
Let’s talk about sex. There was an article floating around Substack titled “What Makes Good Sex Writing?” I confess that I did not read it fully because I could not keep reading after I hit the following quote:“God,” he groans, "you're such a little slut sometimes."The author of the original piece gives this excerpt as an example of “good” sex writing. Now, unless your conception of “good” writing is an adequate command of punctuation, I see no “good” writing here at all.
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1 month ago | 
pensandpoison.org | Liza Libes
“I don’t know.” It’s the most common response I receive from teenagers when I ask them a simple question. You might think that I am referring to the answer to a math problem or asking them to parse a sentence, but every year, I pose the same question to my students that generates few concrete responses. “What are your values?”At my college admissions consulting firm Invictus Prep, I help students craft college essays that land them offers at America’s top colleges and universities.
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1 month ago | 
pensandpoison.org | Liza Libes
Every writer wants to be Hemingway. Sure—I get it. The mystical pull towards subtext and the legendary Iceberg Theory. The perfection inherent in the act of making every single word count. The charm of expatriation, of never quite fitting in. The allure of the jazz age, sipping absinthe-spiked cocktails in the afternoon, taking off towards a bull fight with your fellow lost generation compatriots.
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1 month ago | 
pensandpoison.org | Liza Libes
Ben Shapiro made a “6 books to read before you die” video, and I hope I’ve already read all of them because I am dying to know what he put on the list. It’s time for Liza Libes to destroy Ben Shapiro with facts and logic. (Spoiler, he’s not wrong.)Top 10 Books of All Time What are my top 10 books of all time and why? It’s a difficult question, albeit one I get asked quite often.
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1 month ago | 
pensandpoison.org | Liza Libes
I am excited to launch the first of my paid-subscriber-exclusive videos! I’ll be dropping a series of “just for fun” videos over the next few months—exclusive to Pens and Poison paid subscribers—so don’t forget to pick up your paid sub for the full Liza Libes experience!
