Sophie Haigney

is a critic and reporter who often writes about art and technology.

Unfaithfulness (from Four Allegories of Love), 1575. Artist: Veronese, Paolo (1528-1588)

The Ardor of Tessa Hadley The Ardor of Tessa Hadley

Her novels are masterful domestic dramas that obsess over the mechanics of adultery and illicit passion.

May 25, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Sophie Haigney

London Underground

Jeremy Cooper’s Art of Ambiguities Jeremy Cooper’s Art of Ambiguities

His epistolary novel Bolt From the Blue is a sort of Künstlerroman about artistic inspiration, parenthood, and the frustrations of interpretation.

Jul 20, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Sophie Haigney

Diorama of Manhattan at 1939 World's Fair

How ‘Things’ In Fiction Shape the Way We Read How ‘Things’ In Fiction Shape the Way We Read

Sarah Wasserman’s recent book looks at how the objects we take for granted in stories can reveal even deeper meaning.

Apr 13, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Sophie Haigney

Celia Paul Sits for Her Own Portrait

Celia Paul Sits for Her Own Portrait Celia Paul Sits for Her Own Portrait

The painter’s memoir Self-Portrait is a revelation.   

Nov 9, 2020 / Sophie Haigney

Rewriting Roman Myths From the Perspective of Their Victims

Rewriting Roman Myths From the Perspective of Their Victims Rewriting Roman Myths From the Perspective of Their Victims

Nina MacLaughlin reimagines Metamorphoses from the perspective of the women in the text, exploring sexual violence, agency, and power dynamics of all kinds.

Jan 6, 2020 / Sophie Haigney

Rachel Monroe’s Elegant Dissection of True Crime Fanaticism

Rachel Monroe’s Elegant Dissection of True Crime Fanaticism Rachel Monroe’s Elegant Dissection of True Crime Fanaticism

In Savage Appetites, she sketches an unconventional history of some of the 21st century’s most notable and horrific crimes—through the eyes of women on the edges of these acts.

Aug 28, 2019 / Sophie Haigney

Museums’ Recent Tech Obsession Does Not Compute

Museums’ Recent Tech Obsession Does Not Compute Museums’ Recent Tech Obsession Does Not Compute

A spate of recent shows, including one at MoMA about the material and cultural role of 21st-century technology, shows how little the art world understands its buzziest new interest...

May 6, 2019 / Sophie Haigney

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