Author Archives: Bob
Two New Audio Clips
Two moments from our last session on Dante’s Paradiso Punctuated by the noise of workmen on scaffolding outside our fourth-floor windows: quasi-angelic attendants in fluoro-vests and hard-hats. Dante’s Paradiso Ends in Dance Dante’s Paradiso-St John, Plato, and Love
Three New Courses Booked In
“I’m Nobody! Who are You?”: the Poetry of Emily Dickinson Emily Dickinson remains one of America’s best-loved poets. And for good reason. Her deceptively simple and accessible poems reveal a mind of extraordinary acuity, and a wit biting and playful … Continue reading
New Courses Booked In
The three short courses I’ve recently announced, on Emily Dickinson, Shakespeare’s Sonnets, and the history of English, are now booked to run at Ross House in April-June. Full details can be found on the “Courses and Seminars” link.
A Few of My Own Poems
Some MLS and other students have asked whether I’ve written any of my own poetry. I’m afraid I must answer “yes,” and I’ll compound the misdemeanor by posting a PDF here of a quintent of pieces that don’t make me … Continue reading
Puns and Poetry
Anyone who’s attended any of my classes knows (to his or her cost) my inability to resist a bad pun. Turns out I’ve got some illustrious company! This is the PDF of an article I’ve just had published in PN Review, … Continue reading
The Uses of Exile: Metaphor As a Way of Knowing
Gave a lecture to year-12 International Baccalaureate students at Wesley college today. Fabulous audience, fabulous venue. As far as I could tell, a good time was had by all, and I’m posting an audio file of my talk here. powerpoint: … Continue reading
Anyone for Lunchtime Sessions?
I’ve had requests that The Melbourne Literature Seminars offer one-hour midday sessions in Ross House, either 12-1 or 1-2, that would allow people who work in or around the CBD to spend their lunch-hours discussing poetry. I’d love to give … Continue reading
Dante’s Divine Comedy and Seamus Heaney’s Beowulf
Happy New Year! I have had confirmation of bookings for the rooms for these two new courses, which are now ready to begin. Details below. If either appeals and you’d like to check out how our sessions tick, feel free … Continue reading
New Courses on Dante and Beowulf to Run Next Year
Announcements of two new courses, one on Dante’s Divine Comedy and another on Seamus Heaney’s Beowulf, can be found on the Courses & Seminars link.
Seamus Heaney’s Beowulf
In 2000, Nobel-Prize-winning Irish poet Seamus Heaney published one of the most powerful translations of the poetic masterpiece of Anglo-Saxon England, Beowulf. It is, in my experience, the translation that gives readers unfamiliar with the poem’s very old form of … Continue reading