Hillary Kelly

Hillary Kelly is a literary critic and essayist.

Latest

  1. Fast Times and Mean Girls

    What the great teen movies tell us about American adolescence

    Graphic-illustration with cut-out photos of teen-movie characters collaged on notebook paper.
    Photo-Illustration by Colin Hunter. Sources: Getty; Steve Schapiro / Getty; Paramount / Everett Collection; Universal / Everett Collection; Lionsgate Entertainment; CBS Photo Archive / Getty; Silver Screen Collection / Getty.
  2. An All-Female Society, Pushed to Extremes

    Novels about women’s communities tend toward utopian coexistence or ruthless backbiting. The Unworthy does something more interesting.

    A red-and-black chess-style grid over images of female sculptures
    Illustration by Allison Zaucha / The Atlantic. Sources: Prisma / UIG / Getty; Jackyenjoy / Getty.
  3. You Are Going to Die

    Oliver Burkeman has become an unlikely self-help guru by reminding everyone of their mortality.

    A color photograph of a white man standing with arms crossed on a green lawn surrounded by dark trees
    Photograph by Evelyn Freja for The Atlantic