Dr. Alexander Regier from Rice University will be presenting “‘Today is Very Homely and Awkward’: Emily Dickinson’s Odd Fits” on Friday, October 6 at 3:30 PM in the Armstrong Browning Lecture Hall.
Emily Dickinson is an extremely eloquent yet awkward poet. This talk will show
how she identifies awkwardness as a poetic and existential catalyst that is both
productive and uncomfortable. In her lyrics, awkwardness becomes an important
part of the discussion between personhood, poetry, and Anglophone literary
tradition on the level of content and form. This talk is part of a larger book project,
Awkwardness: The History and Art of Unease, which shows that awkwardness
is a significant aesthetic and critical category in Anglophone theoretical and
imaginative literature from at least the mid-eighteenth century until today.