Authors, Books, & Writing Programs

After supposed fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls purchased by wealthy evangelical collectors were discovered to be fake, questions about the methods and ethics involved in validating ancient textual fragments have divided scholars and institutions. Colette Loll, a leading art-fraud expert, explains new scientific protocols designed to restore confidence in the arcane world of authenticating textual artifacts and delves into how ideological biases affect the way collectors and experts view important religious materials.

Palimpsests—parchment manuscripts that have had their original text scrubbed off and overwritten—are now sharing long-held secrets through technologies adapted from satellite imaging, medicine, and other fields. Michael B. Toth of R. B. Toth Associates leads a fascinating scientific and historical trek as he reviews how he and his teams have brought forgotten early texts to light in projects that span the globe.

Discover how visual art can inspire creative writing and how writing can offer a powerful way to experience art. Mary Hall Surface, founding instructor of the National Gallery of Art’s popular Writing Salon, leads three online workshops that spotlight a diverse range of artworks chosen to inspire writers of all experience levels. This session focuses on memory, identity, and setting.

In this summer series, discover a “novel” way to explore the arts. Independent art historian Heidi Applegate explores the artists—Leonardo da Vinci, Judith Leyster, and Camille Pissarro—and paintings that inspired three works of art-focused historical fiction. This session discusses Laura Morelli's The Night Portrait. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)

Discover how visual art can inspire creative writing and how writing can offer a powerful way to experience art. Mary Hall Surface, founding instructor of the National Gallery of Art’s popular Writing Salon, leads three online workshops that spotlight a diverse range of artworks chosen to inspire writers of all experience levels. This session focuses on sunlight, shadow, and story.

In-Person and Online Program: Pulitzer Prize–winning author Geraldine Brooks discusses her newest novel, Horse, which explores art and science, the bond between people and animals, and the continuing story of race and injustice.

Discover how visual art can inspire creative writing and how writing can offer a powerful way to experience art. Mary Hall Surface, founding instructor of the National Gallery of Art’s popular Writing Salon, leads three online workshops that spotlight a diverse range of artworks chosen to inspire writers of all experience levels. This session focuses on surprise, connect, and experiment.

Historian Jennifer Paxton examines the evidence for and against the existence of a 5th-century warrior leader named Arthur and traces the growth of his legend.

In this summer series, discover a “novel” way to explore the arts. Independent art historian Heidi Applegate explores the artists—Leonardo da Vinci, Judith Leyster, and Camille Pissarro—and paintings that inspired three works of art-focused historical fiction. This session discusses Carrie Callaghan's A Light of Her Own. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)

By 1830, Washington, D.C. was one of the nation’s most important sites for the interstate slave trade. In response, the region’s abolitionist movement became particularly important. Join poet and author Kim Roberts as she traces the abolitionist history of the region and highlights writers whose poems were seen as unique forms of moral persuasion on the subjects of slavery and abolition.

Once upon a time, fairy tales were not the short, simple children’s stories we all know. Instead, they often carried subtle messages or warnings, or ridiculed powerful figures. Folklorists Sara Cleto and Brittany Warman explore these mostly forgotten tales and their deeper meanings.

Discover the power of reflective writing inspired by art guided by the founding instructor of the National Gallery of Art’s Writing Salon, Mary Hall Surface. Join her and step into the colors, light, and forms of Claude Monet’s exquisite The Japanese Footbridge to explore the bridge as a metaphor for the thresholds and journeys of our lives.

In this summer series, discover a “novel” way to explore the arts. Independent art historian Heidi Applegate explores the artists—Leonardo da Vinci, Judith Leyster, and Camille Pissarro—and paintings that inspired three works of art-focused historical fiction. This session discusses Alice Hoffman's The Marriage of Opposites. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)