Literary Seminar: American Expat Literature

This is now the third summer in which the Boston Poetry Union has organized a Seminar in Literary Appreciation. This year, Christopher Ohge will guiding participants through a tour of "AMERICAN EXPATRIATE WRITING IN THE 19th & 20th CENTURY".

These reading seminars are intended to acquaint participants with major personalities and events in the broad body of American literature written by Americans abroad. No prior experience is assumed or needed, and no preparation is required to attend.

These are relaxed and informative affairs, where the aim is for all involved to grow in their appreciation of literature. The moderator will provide reading packets for each session, in hard copy at the seminar and in PDF in advance. At each session, the moderator will deliver a brief expository lecture introducing the themes and relevance of that evening's texts, before leading group discussion focused on close reading.

Thursdays 6-8 PM
Boston University's Mugar Library
771 Commonwealth Avenue, Room 414
"BU Central" stop on the Green Line "B" trolley

Seminar 1: July 28th
- Ralph Waldo Emerson: "The Sphinx"; "Persian Poetry"; and selections from Journals while abroad in Italy
- Nathaniel Hawthorne: "P's Correspondence"

Seminar 2: August 4th
Herman Melville: selections from Typee; "Paradise of Bachelors and the Tartarus of Maids"; and Journal of a Visit to Europe and the Levant

Seminar 3: August 11th
Henry James: selections from Italian Hours
Edith Wharton: selections from In Morocco

Seminar 4: August 18th
Gertude Stein: "Ada" and "Guillaume Apollinaire"
T. S. Eliot: "Fourth Caprice in Montparnasse" and Four Quartets

Seminar 5: August 25th
Paul Bowles: selected letters from France, 1929-1932; "A Distant Episode"; "Allal"; and "Baptism of Solitude"

Participants may attend any or all sessions; the seminar is not cumulative.

If you'd like to register, please email your name to bostonpoetryunion@gmail.com as well as your contact information and the dates you plan to attend. A maximum of 12 students can be seated at each session. The cost to attend each session is $5, or $25 for the whole seminar series. Payment may be made at the first seminar with cash, by check to "Boston Poetry Union," or via PayPal to bostonpoetryunion@gmail.com.