V.M. Braganza

Joined: Nov 29, 2021

V.M. Braganza is a Ph.D. candidate in Renaissance literature at Harvard and a law student at Columbia Law School. She has written for Smithsonian and the LA Review of Books. When she isn’t writing a book on the literary history of cryptography, she’s part-time masseuse to a pampered green parrot named Rascal who is appallingly more popular on social media than she is. She has been known to sign emails as “Robert Langdon.”

How many of these books are on your shelf?

5 Millennial-Approved Young Adult Book Series That Are Still Going Strong

6 Fascinating Facts About Geoffrey Chaucer

10 Differences Between ‘The Wizard of Oz’ Book and Movie

The Origin—and Evolution—of the Phrase 'Trip the Light Fantastic'

Monica Dickens was more prolific than her more famous ancestor—but few know her today.

Let's Talk Strine: How Charles Dickens's Great-Granddaughter (Inadvertently) Named the Australian Accent

Monica “Monty” Dickens was well-known in her lifetime and, like her great-grandfather, had a profound effect on the English language—if not quite in the way she intended.

Polonius from 'Hamlet' doling out some advice.

6 Phrases and Idioms From the Renaissance

Did you realize how many idioms commonly used today have their origins in Renaissance literature and culture of the 16th and 17th centuries? These trendy turns of phrase are the best things since sliced bread—and nearly half a millennium older.

10 Women Writing in the Time of Shakespeare

Women were everywhere on the 16th- and 17th-century literary scene, writing and publishing alongside men—but many of their names are still unknown.

Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images

7 Books by L.M. Montgomery That Aren’t Anne of Green Gables

L.M. Montgomery's 'Anne of Green Gables' is a classic, but that's not the author's only notable work. Here are seven other titles by Montgomery that you should read.