Welcome to Lolo’s Library!

Hi! I’m Lauren — freelance journalist, graduate student at USC, and unapologetic John Milton enthusiast. Welcome to Lolo’s Library, where the books are pre-18th century, but the takes are very much 21st.

I fell in love with the world of early literature while studying English at UC Berkeley. My senior year, I combined my passions for Milton and reproductive health care to write an honors thesis on the representation of the womb in Paradise Lost. Now, it’s my mission to make pre-18th century books feel alive, accessible, and even a little bit magical.

How does Milton wrestle with the terror of growing old? Can we trace the roots of romantasy all the way back to The Faerie Queene? These are the kinds of questions that keep me up at night — and fuel this newsletter.

If you’re ready to expand your reading life (and maybe soundtrack it with a few perfectly curated Spotify playlists), come join me at Lolo’s Library.

Where you can find me outside of Substack

When I’m not poring over old literature, I’m teaching yoga sculpt at CorePower Yoga, experimenting with vegan recipes, and taking care of my dogs, Odin and Hash Brown. I’m also a freelance journalist with bylines in the San Francisco Chronicle, the Daily Californian, Fifty Grande Magazine, and uDiscover Music. You can read some of my favorite articles here.

Find me on Instagram @lolos.library.

Send any tips, thoughts, feelings, etc. to laurenp.harvey@gmail.com.

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