Fiction

Books

Photo-illustration with black-and-white images of Faulkner and Cowley, a handwritten letter, and a red rectangle on a black background. — Illustration by Mark Harris*

The Man Who Rescued Faulkner

How the critic Malcolm Cowley made American literature into its own great tradition

9:00 AM ET

Illustration using two photos of bearded men, William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe — Illustration by Anna Ruch / The Atlantic. Sources: Hulton Archive / Print Collector / Bettmann / Getty.

The Stubborn Myth of the Literary Genius

What two new books on the English Renaissance reveal about the appeal of speculative history

November 3, 2025

illustration with drawing of brown coyote at lower right on red background — Illustration by Liz Hart

Coyote

A poem

Carol Muske-Dukes

November 2, 2025

A woman looking shocked — Maria Vasilyevna Yakunchikova / Fine Art Images / Bridgeman Images

The Powerful, Unpredictable Nature of Fear

Halloween is the perfect time to think more deeply about the role it plays in our lives.

October 31, 2025

What To Read

Illustration of sports players by Thom Colligan — Illustration by Thom Colligan

Seven Books That Will Change How You Watch Sports

Digging into the transformative trends behind the games is a valuable pastime of its own.

October 24, 2025

essential childrens books — Illustration by Elliot Kruszynski

65 Essential Children’s Books

Illustrated titles that teach kids to love literature

October 15, 2025

Two lovers embracing — Credit: Egon Schiele / Bridgeman Images

Eight Romance Novels for Romance Skeptics

The genre is so diverse that with a little open-mindedness, everyone really can find their perfect match.

Karen Ostergren

October 13, 2025

Illustration of a book open with money inside it — Illustration by Carl Godfrey

Seven Books About What Corruption Actually Looks Like

Dishonest governance is rarely a single act or brazen deal; more often, it appears as a set of habits that spread through a society.

Zephyr Teachout

September 22, 2025

Latest

An image of a woman with her head bent down over a notebook, holding a pencil in her hand, is sliced at various angles and superimposed over yellow lined notebook paper. — Illustration by Ben Kothe / The Atlantic

Diseducators

A short story

Domenico Starnone

September 28, 2025

Bird feathers falling over an image of a tree trunk with a hole in the center — Illustration by Ben Kothe / The Atlantic. Sources: Philippe Gerber / Getty; nadtytok / Getty.

June

A short story

Daniel J. O’Malley

August 26, 2025

Painted illustration of man seen from behind in a jagged cave opening, silhouetted against a pink sky and landscape beyond. — Illustration by Holly Stapleton

Lamentations

A short story

July 6, 2025

black and white photo of a tattooed couple laying on a beach towel — Bruce Davidson / Magnum

Fools for Love

A short story

June 26, 2025

Watercolor-like illustration of a painted western landscape with buttes and a small figure standing in foreground. — Illustration by Ben Pearce

Weepers

A short story

Peter Mendelsund

June 13, 2025

girl in bathing suit — Marlen Mueller / Connected Archives

Skin a Rabbit

A short story

May 4, 2025

A green bowl upside down on a reddish-brown wood table, with spilled milk and Cheerios to its right. A silver spoon lies upside down in the milk. — Dean Belcher / Gallery Stock

Relatable Mom

A short story

Curtis Sittenfeld

March 30, 2025

A painted depiction of birds flying in energetic brush strokes — Illustration by Anna Morrison

Bird Strike

A short story

February 25, 2025

Rows of empty beige office cubicles with a paper print-out of a bright-yellow flower taped outside one of them — Photo-illustration by Ben Denzer. Source: Paul Denzer.

The Moron Factory

A short story

George Saunders

February 14, 2025

photo of people sitting on rocks next to water with fall foliage — Brian Kanagaki for The Atlantic

American Realism

A short story

January 4, 2025