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DELVE: READERS’ SEMINARS, DELVE OVER DRINKS
Delve Over Drinks seminars are five weeks long. CENTURIES OF SATIRE: ERASMUS, JONATHAN SWIFT & KURT VONNEGUT
THURSDAYS, SEPTEMBER 9–OCTOBER 7, 2010 Writers have long taught us with wit and ridicule how to see the lighter side of religion, poverty and war. Come read and discuss three gems of satire from the past five hundred years: Erasmus’s Praise of Folly, Swift’s A Modest Proposal and Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five. GUIDE: Richard Lewis earned his PhD in Medieval Literature at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He’s taught at Carnegie-Mellon University and Linfield College. GABRIEL GARCÍA MÁRQUEZ: ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE
WEDNESDAYS, JANUARY 5–FEBRUARY 2, 2011 García Márquez is a master of Magical Realism, and this book is his masterpiece. He enchants his readers by describing a South American village in which a character dies but continues to sit beneath his favorite tree in the front yard, and a woman suddenly ascends to heaven, the sheet she was drying, dangling from her foot. I’m thrilled to share this novel with you over a glass of red. GUIDE: Susan McKee Reese is a poet and Assistant Professor in the English Department at Portland State University. DELVE: READERS’ SEMINARS
Read below for brief seminar descriptions. Remember to enroll early; each seminar is limited to 16 participants. All seminars are from 6:30–8:30 p.m. and tuition is $170 unless otherwise noted. THE FOUR ELEMENTS: THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN, INTO THIN AIR, THE BELL JAR & BLUE HIGHWAYS
TUESDAYS, SEPTEMBER 7–OCTOBER 12, 2010 We will use the theme of earth, water, air and fire to examine specific American literature characterized by one element. Set out on dirt roads with William Least Heat-Moon, down the Mississippi with Mark Twain’s Huck Finn, into thin air with Jon Krakauer, and into the fire with Sylvia Plath. We will discover a fifth text that combines all the elements in its theme. GUIDE: After retiring from the Claremont Colleges, Barry Sanders published The Green Zone: The Environmental Costs of Militarism and currently teaches at PNCA. EXPLODING THE CANON: HOW NATIVE AMERICAN, ASIAN AMERICAN AND LATINA
WOMEN REMADE AMERICAN LITERATURE
WEDNESDAYS, NOVEMBER 3–DECEMBER 15, 2010 (NO SEMINAR NOVEMBER 24) The definition of great literature involves complex personal, institutional, and cultural assumptions. We will delve into the works of Louise Erdrich, Maxine Hong Kingston, and Ana Castillo—gifted American authors who challenge mainstream forms of storytelling—and discuss the process of forming the canon and the factors that lead us to label a book a literary masterpiece. GUIDE: Lois Leveen KEN KESEY: ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST & SOMETIMES A GREAT NOTION
WEDNESDAYS, FEBRUARY 9–MARCH 16, 2011 Considering himself a link between the Beats and Hippies, Ken Kesey is both Oregon’s native son and a writer who writes with rare spark and relevance. We’ll read Kesey’s two greatest works, which were written within two years of each other and grant us access to the range of his craft and character, as well as the cultural links he so deftly explores. GUIDE: A poet and novelist, Sara Guest has degrees in literature from Miami University and Case Western Reserve. GEOFFREY CHAUCER: THE CANTERBURY TALES
TUESDAYS, MARCH 22–APRIL 26, 2011 Chaucer’s tales are sometimes somber, but mostly wild and ribald stories of love as told by a motley group of pilgrims to pass the time on their journey. We will learn the rudiments of Middle English, and explore art, architecture, manuscripts, and music as we discuss this famous text. GUIDE: Barry Sanders THE THEATRE OF TENNESSEE WILLIAMS
WEDENESDAYS, MARCH 23–APRIL 27, 2011 In honor of Williams’s 100th birthday, we will explore six classic texts from his most productive years, including The Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar Named Desire, Cat on A Hot Tin Roof, Sweet Bird of Youth and The Night of the Iguana. GUIDE: Pancho Savery is Professor of English, Humanities and American Studies at Reed College. FEMALE PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING PLAYWRIGHTS
TUESDAYS, MAY 3–JUNE 7, 2011 Starting with Susan Glaspell’s Alison’s House in 1939 and concluding with the 2009 winner, Ruined by Lynn Nottage, we will note where and why these six writers depart from traditional play structures, what makes them unique, and whether they offer us a common vision of American life. GUIDE: Mead Hunter holds an MFA in Dramaturgy from Yale and a PhD in Critical Studies from UCLA. THOMAS HARDY: JUDE THE OBSCURE
WEDNESDAYS, MAY 25–JUNE 29, 2011 He knew himself as a poet, devoting the final 30 years of his life exclusively to poetry, but he’s known in the literary canon for existentialist novels about society and fate. We will explore Hardy’s thematic constants and how he bridged between poetry and fiction. GUIDE: Sara Guest Register for a Delve Seminar Online! THE FOLLOWING SEMINARS ARE SOLD OUT
ILLUSTRATING IDENTITY IN THE AGE OF THE GRAPHIC NOVEL
FIVE WEEKS, THURSDAYS, JULY 15–AUGUST 12, 2010, 6:00–8:00 P.M. Explore Crumb’s work in the context of Spiegelman, Joann Sfar, and Harvey Pekar. We’ll deepen our understanding of how and why author-illustrators use the medium of graphic novel to plumb questions of identity. GUIDE: Lois Leveen earned degrees in history and literature from Harvard, USC, and UCLA. Her work has appeared in Bridges, Monkey Puzzle, and the book Queer Portland. HERMAN MELVILLE: MOBY DICK
MONDAYS, OCTOBER 18–NOVEMBER 22, 2010 We will explore Herman Melville’s 1851 novel Moby Dick through close reading and discussion. Equal parts adventure story, Elizabethan tragedy, and history, Moby Dick is a meditation on American democracy. It is one of the most beautifully written books in our literature. GUIDE: Christopher Zinn is a scholar of American literature and culture. He teaches humanities at the Portland Waldorf High School. MODERN AMERICAN POETRY: THE WASTELAND & MORE
THURSDAYS, JANUARY 6–FEBRUARY 10, 2011 We will discuss some of the major works by modern American poets, including T.S. Eliot’s The Wasteland, Ezra Pound’s A Draft of XXX Cantos, William Carlos Williams’s Spring and All, and selected poems by Marianne Moore, Wallace Stevens, Langston Hughes, and Robert Frost. We hope to become familiar with the difficulties and rewards of these remarkable poems. GUIDE: Christopher Zinn |
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Delve offers the opportunity to explore great books with an experienced guide and the company of other dedicated readers.
Seminars are lively, in-depth discussions led by local scholars. No previous knowledge of the author or text is required.
Each seminar is limited to 16 participants who will complete designated reading in advance and come prepared to discuss the text in an informal, friendly atmosphere.
PROGRAM LINKS For more information on Delve: Readers’ Seminars, please contact Jennifer MacGregor, Delve Program Manager, at 503-227-2583 or by email at Jennifer@literary-arts.org. |
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