David Lehman

David Lehman, a contributing editor of the Scholar, is a poet, critic, and the general editor of The Best American Poetry annual anthology and author of the book One Hundred Autobiographies. He currently writes our Talking Pictures column.

In Reprise: Next Line, Please

A new poetry prompt for players new and old

By David Lehman | Friday October 25, 2024

Tunneling to Freedom

In The Great Escape (1963), the true story of a harrowing breakout from a German POW camp

By David Lehman | Thursday June 6, 2024

Homage to the Uncanny

Dead of Night (1945), a masterpiece of horror

By David Lehman | Thursday February 29, 2024

How Well Do You Know Your Hitchcock?

A multiple-choice test for the maestro’s fans

By David Lehman | Friday January 19, 2024

“Mr. Lucky” Didn’t Know Who He Was

How Cary Grant’s magical film career paralleled a lifelong identity crisis

By David Lehman | Thursday September 28, 2023

Brilliant Carnage

Sam Peckinpah’s slow-motion bullet ballet

By David Lehman | Thursday February 23, 2023

What Hath Gable Got?

“Rhett Butler” romances Claudette Colbert in Frank Capra’s comic masterpiece It Happened One Night

By David Lehman | Monday November 28, 2022

The Allure of the Enigmatic

“Mod” London takes center stage in Michelangelo Antonioni’s mind-blowing Blow-Up

By David Lehman | Thursday August 25, 2022

Famous Last Lines

How many do you know by heart?

By David Lehman | Thursday July 21, 2022

The Last Cigarette

Cinema’s most seductive prop

By David Lehman | Saturday May 14, 2022
Two birds on a wire

Updike on Couples

By David Lehman | Tuesday June 25, 2019
Person walking down stairs, black and white photo

Nine-Line Stanzas

By David Lehman | Tuesday June 18, 2019
Black and white "walk" sign

Impromptu

By David Lehman | Tuesday June 11, 2019

A Sonnet Is Ample Space

By David Lehman | Tuesday June 4, 2019

How to Be a Big-League Critic

By David Lehman | Monday June 3, 2019
Close-up, macro shot of a bloody knife
Red mailbox
Old fashioned mailbox that says LETTERS

Read Emily’s Mind

By David Lehman | Tuesday May 7, 2019
A black and white photograph of a subway car

Poetic Metamorphosis

By David Lehman | Tuesday April 30, 2019

The Love Poem in an Unromantic Age

By David Lehman | Tuesday April 23, 2019

● NEWSLETTER

Please enter a valid email address
That address is already in use
The security code entered was incorrect
Thanks for signing up