MFA Residency: Sunday, January 11th

Public Event Schedule

9:30 AM
Ransom Fellowship Hall
MICHAEL PARKER: The Parenthetical

“Punctuation,” said the essayist Pico Iyer, “gives us the human voice, and all the meanings that lie between the words.” My talk will focus on the parenthesis, specifically the ways in which it

epitomizes various (and crucial) aspects of narrative: dissemination of information, development of character, the establishment of tension, rhythm and pattern, the handling of time and—most importantly—the creation of consciousness. Texts discussed include Conrad Aiken’s “Silent Snow, Secret Snow,” Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway, and examples from Nabokov, Faulkner, Joyce, Elizabeth Bishop, and Henry James (of course).

 

10:45 AM
Ransom Fellowship Hall
STEPHEN DOBYNS: Aspects of the Lyric

The lecture tries to define the lyric and how the modern lyric rose out of Romanticism. It discusses what is necessary to the lyric, how it can differ from a narrative poem and how narrative can be used within it. The lecture also looks at early and continuing tropes found in the lyric, and discusses the nature of the lyric or affective element in form as well as content. Handouts will be provided.

(Full audio for all residency lectures will be available in the MFA Store in February:  http://www.wwcmfa.org/mfa-store/)

 

Then join us at 8:15pm in Gladfelter, Cannon Lounge for a reading featuring graduating students:

David Cherry

Laura Moretz

Jennifer Givhan

Michael Sharick

Paul Howe

For more information, including a full schedule of public events, please visit the program website at http://wwcmfa.org/.