What if any dull, stilted exchange could turn into a genuine connection — even if you become a blundering mess around strangers?You are fine with close friends, but the moment a stranger appears you freeze. Your mind goes blank, the silence stretches, and afterward you replay every awkward thing you said.You are tired of feeling anxious at parties, meetings, and introductions, watching other people hit it off effortlessly while you rehearse a line you nev...

What if you could turn any awkward silence into a conversation people actually enjoy?The panic sets in the moment you have to talk to someone new. Your mind goes blank, the small talk fizzles, and thirty seconds later you are both looking for an exit. Afterward you replay every clumsy line, telling yourself you're just "too shy" or "socially awkward."Left unchecked, that quiet dread costs you friendships, dates, opportunities, and the easy connection you ...

Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce was born on 24th June 1842 at Horse Cave Creek in Meigs County, Ohio. His parents were poor but they introduced him to literature at an early age, instilling in him a deep appreciation of books, the written word and the elegance of language.Growing up in Koscuisko County, Indiana poverty and religion were defining features of his childhood, and he would later describe his parents as “unwashed savages” and fanatically religious, showing him little affection b...

‘A dime a dozen’ as known in America, is perhaps equal to the English ‘cheap as chips’ but whatever the lingua franca of your choice in this series we hereby submit ‘A Rhyme a Dozen’ as 12 poems on many given subjects that are a well-rounded gathering, maybe even an essential guide, from the knowing pens of classic poets and their beautifully spoken verse to the comfort of your ears.1 - A Rhyme A Dozen - 12 Poems, 12 Poets, 1 Topic - Birthdays - An Introduction2 - A Birthda...

Short stories have always been a sort of instant access into an author’s brain, their soul and heart. A few pages can lift our lives into locations, people and experiences with a sweep of landscape, narration, feelings and emotions that is difficult to achieve elsewhere.In this series we try to offer up tried and trusted ‘Top Tens’ across many different themes and authors. But any anthology will immediately throw up the questions – Why that story? Why that author?The theme ...

The bookshelves of American literature are incredible collections that have gathered together centuries of very talented authors. From this continent their fame spread and whilst among their number many are now forgotten or neglected their talents endure. Among them is Victoria Earle Matthews.

The concept of right and wrong, of good and bad, is taught to us from childhood. It’s a guiding principle as we journey through the decades of life. Easy to keep to? Sometimes it’s easier not to.Authors of the talent of Franz Kafka, F Scott Fitzgerald, Robert Louis Stevenson and many others create characters and circumstances that test their capacity for morality to the limit.1 - Stories Exploring Morality - An Introduction2 - The Dead - Part 1 by James Joyce

The American literary tradition has, in a far shorter span of time than others throughout history, achieved a glowing and glittering reputation.From its transatlantic roots it has absorbed the sons and daughters of other cultures, other lands and made them part of her own.America prides itself on liberty, on justice for all and, if you are a wealthy white man, that is essentially true. Sadly, many other segments of society find it difficult to feel or become part of this en...

The bookshelves of American literature are incredible collections that have gathered together centuries of very talented authors. From this continent their fame spread and whilst among their number many are now forgotten or neglected their talents endure. Among them is the talented but neglected poet James Monroe Whitfield.

Poetry. A form of words that seems so elegantly simple in one verse and so cleverly complex in another. Each poet has a particular style, an individual and unique way with words and yet each of us seems to recognise the path and destination of where the verses lead, even if sometimes the full comprehension may be a little beyond us.Through the centuries every culture has produced verse to symbolize and to describe everything from everyday life, natural wonders, the human condition ...

William Edward Burghardt Du Bois was born on the 23rd February 1868, in Great Barrington, Massachusetts.He was the first African American to earn a Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1895. As a sociologist his writing, including the classic 1903 work ‘The Souls of Black Folk’, introduced the concept of "double consciousness"—the sense of 'twoness' felt by Black Americans—and his famous statement, "The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line."Du Bois ...

Being curious, learning from all of our experiences, is one of our most pleasing traits as human beings.In this series we examine particular facets of ourselves and, with the aid of many classic authors, delve into characters and stories that not only entertain us, but inform us on how short stories can help us both deal and understand issues that touch and weave into our lives with the words and narratives of many wise talents.The evil stain of Racism blights much of human...