Pens and Poison is the literary project of author Liza Libes. Enter a world of literary analyses, cultural critiques, and other hot takes.
| Platform |  | Pricing | Freemium | Publishes | Twice weekly |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Issues | 190 | Founded | 2 years ago | Last Issue | 6 days ago |
| Active | |||||
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pensandpoison.orgLatest Issues
How I Became a Russian Jew
This essay originally appeared in Kveller in 2024 and is republished here with permission.
I was 21 years old when I learned my father had gone to jail for being a Jew.
I had grown up without a rooted sense of Jewishness. I attended Jewis...
How English Departments Destroyed Literature
I got an A+ for calling Shakespeare transgender. But the problem is so much worse in English departments across the Western world.
The best paper I ever wrote for my English classes at Columbia University was a final paper arguing that Sha...
Why I Left Marxist Academia
I recently sat down with for a long-form conversation about literature, Columbia, publishing, and the strange state of our culture today.
I’ve written about many of these themes on Pens and Poison, and I’m excited to bring them to you tod...
English Departments Have a Karl Marx Problem
“Comrades!”
Scanning the first message I received in my Columbia University MA English group chat, I couldn’t believe my eyes.
A WhatsApp message I received in my English department group chat in 2019.
“We need you guys trained and up t...
Top 10 Books of All Time
What are my top ten books of all time… and why?
When I first started my Substack two years ago, I compiled a list of my top 10 favorite books of all time for my 60 or so subscribers. Now that there are so many more of you in the Pens and P...
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Authors
The writers behind this newsletter.
Founder of Pens and Poison, a unique multi-platform project that promotes the love of literature and the humanistic tradition.
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