Today in History (August 31)

1837 Ralph Waldo Emerson gives his famous "The American Scholar" speech to Phi Beta Kappa Society at Harvard College, Cambridge, Massachusetts, declares American literary independence from Europe

2020 Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi

The novel follows 28-year-old Gifty, a PhD candidate in neuroscience in her fifth year at Stanford University, and her Ghanaian-American mother, who is suffering from a deep depression.

• Longlisted for the 2020 Prix Médicis
• Longlisted for the 2021 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence
• Longlisted for the 2021 Aspen Words Literary Prize
• Shortlisted for the 2021 Women's Prize for Fiction

2021 My Heart Is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones published

Two Dutch tourists are murdered while skinny-dipping in Indian Lake near the small town of Proofrock, Idaho.

• Winner of the 2021 Bram Stoker Award
• Winner of the 2021 Shirley Jackson Award
• Finalist for the 2022 British Fantasy Award
• Nominated for the 2022 Dragon Award
• Winner of the 2022 Locus Award

2023 The Wren, The Wren by Anne Enright is published

An incandescent novel about the inheritance of trauma, wonder, and love across three generations of women.

2023 Momentum: Montessori, a Life in Motion by E.G. Slade is published

Momentum is a captivating historical novel about Dr. Maria Montessori, a brilliant woman who defied societal norms, becoming one of Italy's first female doctors and later revolutionizing education worldwide.

2023 Herc by Phoenicia Rogerson is published

This should be the story of Hercules: his twelve labours, his endless adventures… everyone’s favorite hero, right?

Well, it’s not.

2023 A Dictator Calls by Ismail Kadare

'A Dictator Calls' is inspired by three minutes in June 1934 when Joseph Stalin allegedly telephoned Boris Pasternak. A gripping meditation on Soviet Russia, authoritarianism and literature, featuring a host of fascinating writers and historical figures.

• Longlisted for the International Booker Prize