January 26, 2016 –
John S. Bailey Library, Upper Level
A lecture by Prof. Michael Schmidt
One kind of poetry expresses the poet, giving the reader a wealth of particulars. Another kind of poetry expresses the reader, eliciting his or her experiences by means of templates. Michael Schmidt starts from a handful of poems by Philip Larkin, then ranges out into the wider world of poetry ancient and modern, making a case for the kind of poetry in which the reader is creatively engaged.
Michael Schmidt, the Mexican-born literary historian, writer and editor, has taught at Manchester, Glasgow and Cambridge. In 1969 he established Carcanet Press and PN Review, which he still manages. His books include Lives of the Poets (1999), The First Poets (2006) and The Novel: A Biography (2014) as well as collections of poems and two novels. His publishing list, now including Anvil Press, includes among the modern Greek poets, Seferis, Elytis, Gatsos, Vayenas and Katerina Anghelaki Rooke, and among the ancients the Homeric Hymns, Sappho, Palladas and Meleager.