When Diane Rayor was in college, a professor recommended a work by a 2600-year-old poet that changed her life. Now, after years of studying and translating the works of Sappho, the greatest woman poet in Ancient Greece, she joins Jacke for a conversation about her book Sappho: A New Translation of the Complete Works. Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/donate. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at www.thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The History of Literature

516 Sappho (with Diane Rayor)

What were you doing when the pandemic arose? And did you turn to The Plague by Albert Camus to help you make sense of it all? For two Camus scholars, the pandemic resonated in unexpected ways - and shed new light on a work they'd been studying for years. In this episode, Jacke talks to authors Alice Kaplan and Laura Marris about their book States of Plague: Reading Albert Camus in a Pandemic. PLUS Jacke talks to Alison Strayer, translator of French Nobel Laureate Annie Ernaux, about her choice for the last book she will ever read. Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/donate. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at www.thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

515 The Plague by Albert Camus (with Alice Kaplan and Laura Marris) | My Last Book with Alison Strayer

In the aftermath of a Civil War loss that shattered the region and exposed the moral and cultural fault lines in the populace, writers in the American South responded with stories filled with grotesque, macabre, and shockingly violent elements, developing a genre that came to be known as Southern Gothic. In this episode, Jacke talks to poet David van den Berg (Love Letters from an Arsonist) about growing up in Florida, his relationship with twentieth-century Southern Gothic literature, and how the elements of Southern Gothic have played out in his poetry. PLUS Jacke talks to entrepreneur and futurist Jason Feifer about his choice for the last book he will ever read. Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/donate. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at www.thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

514 Southern Gothic (with David van den Berg) | My Last Book with Jason Feifer

The literary world has long celebrated the incredible contributions of Ireland and its writers, with a special focus on Dublin-centric writers like James Joyce and W.B. Yeats. Meanwhile, Northern Ireland has been quietly turning out some excellent work as well, thanks to figures like C.S. Lewis and Seamus Heaney, among many others. Are there common themes uniting the Irish writers - and the Northern Irish writers in particular? How has the tumultuous history of Northern Ireland worked its way into the writings of its best novelists and poets? In this episode, Jacke talks to Alexander Poots about his new book The Strangers' House: Writing Northern Ireland. PLUS Jacke talks to author Laura Lee (Wilde Nights & Robber Barons) about her choice for the last book she will ever read. Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/donate. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at www.thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

513 The Writers of Northern Ireland (with Alexander Poots) | My Last Book with Laura Lee

Born to a German-Jewish family in 1906, Hannah Arendt became one of the most renowned political thinkers of the twentieth century. Her works, including The Origins of Totalitarianism, The Human Condition, and Eichmann in Jerusalem, have never been more relevant than they are today. In this episode, Jacke talks to author Samantha Rose Hill about her biography Hannah Arendt, part of the Critical Lives series by Reaktion Books. PLUS Jacke talks to producer, playwright, and podcast host Scott Carter about his choice for the last book he will ever read. Samantha Rose Hill is a senior fellow at the Hannah Arendt Center for Politics and Humanities and associate faculty at the Brooklyn Institute for Social Research. Scott Carter is an award-winning television producer (HBO, PBS) and playwright. His podcast Ye Gods discusses personal faith and ethics with a diverse roster of interfaith and non-faith celebrity guests to uncover what we believe and what we don't. Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/donate. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at www.thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

512 Hannah Arendt (with Samantha Rose Hill) | My Last Book with Scott Carter

Jacke talks to Alison Strayer, translator of several books by French author Annie Ernaux, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2022. PLUS he talks to author and Chekhov expert Bob Blaisdell about his choice for the last book he will ever read. ANNIE ERNAUX (The Years, Getting Lost) has written some twenty works of fiction and memoir. She is considered by many to be France's most important writer. ALISON L. STRAYER is a Canadian writer and translator. She won the Warwick Prize for Women in Translation, and her work has been shortlisted for the Governor General's Award for Literature and for Translation, the Grand Pix du live de Montreal, the Prix littéraire France-Québec, and the Man Booker International Prize. BOB BLAISDELL (Chekhov Becomes Chekhov) is Professor of English at the City University of New York’s Kingsborough College and the author of Creating Anna Karenina. Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/donate. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at www.thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

511 Annie Ernaux, Winner of the 2022 Nobel Prize for Literature (with Alison Strayer) | My Last Book with Bob Blaisdell

Does a famous author's body of work contain a hidden meaning? Part Two of Jacke's look at the classic Henry James novella, "The Figure in the Carpet."  Additional listening suggestions: 343 The Feast in the Jungle 341 Constance and Henry - The Story of "Miss Grief" 320 Henry James 414 Henry James's The Golden Bowl (with Dinitia Smith) Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/donate. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at www.thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

510 The Figure in the Carpet by Henry James (Part 2)

Does a famous author's body of work contain a hidden meaning? With an assist from Jorge Luis Borges, Jacke explores the classic Henry James novella, "The Figure in the Carpet." Additional listening suggestions: 343 The Feast in the Jungle 341 Constance and Henry - The Story of "Miss Grief" 320 Henry James 414 Henry James's The Golden Bowl (with Dinitia Smith) Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/donate. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at www.thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

509 The Figure in the Carpet by Henry James (Part 1)

The poet Lord Byron is well known as a passionate revolutionary and a brooding hero who harbors dark secrets. But what about his playful sense of humor? In this episode, Jacke talks to Byron biographer David Ellis (Byron) about the Romantic poet's flamboyant life and work. PLUS Ariel Lawhon, Susan Meissner, and Kristina McMorris, the bestselling authors of When We Had Wings, return for a discussion of the last books they will ever read. Additional listening suggestions: 145 Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know - The Story of Lord Byron The Brontes 446 Percy Bysshe Shelley - The Early Years 471 Angels of War (with Ariel Lawon, Kristina McMorris, and Susan Meissner) Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/shop. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at www.thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

508 Byron (with David Ellis) | My Last Book with Ariel Lawhon, Susan Meissner, and Kristina McMorris

For years, pop culture critics Len Webb and Vincent Williams have hosted the podcast The Micheaux Mission, which aims to watch and review every Black film ever released. In this episode, Jacke talks to Len and Vincent about their new limited-run series The Class of 1989, which focuses on six films (Harlem Nights, Lean on Me, Glory, A Dry White Season, Do the Right Thing, and Driving Miss Daisy) that helped spark a Black film renaissance. Additional listening suggestions: 358 The Profound Wisdom of Black Life and Literature (with Farah Jasmine Griffin) 94 Smoke, Dusk, and Fire - The Jean Toomer Story 485 Reading Pleasures - Everyday Black Living in Early America (with Dr Tara Bynum) 103 Literature Goes to the Movies Part 1 - Great Adaptations (with Mike Palindrome) Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/donate. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at www.thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

507 The Class of 1989 - A Special Year in Black Cinema (with Len Webb and Vincent Williams)

For centuries, Shakespeare's works have been scrutinized by scholars and fans eager to engage with and learn from the texts. And yet, in spite of the prominence of race in today's media headlines and public discourse, the questions of racialized blackness and whiteness raised by Shakespeare's plays are often resisted. In this episode, Jacke talks to Shakespeare scholar Ian Smith (Black Shakespeare: Reading and Misreading Race) about the role that systemic whiteness has played on the interpretation of Shakespeare's plays. PLUS authors David Castillo and William Egginton (What Would Cervantes Do? Navigating Post-Truth with Spanish Baroque Literature) select the last books they will ever read. Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/donate. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at www.thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

506 Black Shakespeare (with Ian Smith) | My Last Book with David Castillo and William Egginton

Ford Madox Ford lived a fascinating life, surrounded by some of the most famous writers of the era: Joseph Conrad, H.G. Wells, Henry James, Stephen Crane, D.H. Lawrence, Jean Rhys, Ernest Hemingway, and many others. Today, he's best known for his editing of others and for his modernist classics The Good Soldier (1915) and the Parade's End tetralogy (1924-8). Who was Ford Madox Ford? What was he like as a person? Just how complicated did his personal affairs get - and how did he manage to endure them? In this episode, Jacke talks to Max Saunders, "the doyen of Ford scholars," about his biography of Ford Madox Ford. PLUS Bethanne Patrick, aka the Book Maven, chooses the last book she will ever read. Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/donate. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at www.thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

505 Ford Madox Ford (with Max Saunders) | My Last Book with Bethanne Patrick

Persuaded by the well-meaning Lady Russell, Anne Elliot turns down prospective suitor Frederick Wentworth. Will life give her a second chance at love? And if so, can she persuade herself to take it? In this episode, Jacke talks to Mike Palindrome, President of the Literature Supporters Club, about the second half of Jane Austen's Persuasion (1817). PLUS Juliette Bretan, freelance journalist and specialist in Eastern European current affairs and culture, tells us her choice for the last book she will ever read. Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/donate. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at www.thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

504 Persuasion (Book Two) (with Mike Palindrome) | My Last Book with Juliette Bretan

What happens when we let opportunities slip past us? And what if we let others talk us out of what looks like our best chance at love? In this episode, Jacke talks to historical romance novelist Gina Buonaguro (The Virgins of Venice) about the first half of Jane Austen's Persuasion (1817). Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/donate. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at www.thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

503 Persuasion (Book One) (with Gina Buonaguro)

Harold Bloom called Persuasion "the perfect novel." Virginia Woolf said "In Persuasion, Jane Austen is beginning to discover that the world is larger, more mysterious, and more romantic than she supposed." In this episode, the first of three parts, Jacke takes a look at Jane Austen's novel of missed opportunities and second chances. Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/donate. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at www.thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

502 Persuasion by Jane Austen

Literature enthusiast Jacke Wilson journeys through the history of literature, from ancient epics to contemporary classics. (Episodes are not in chronological order and you don't need to start at the beginning - feel free to jump in wherever you like!) Find out more at historyofliterature.com and facebook.com/historyofliterature. Support the show by visiting patreon.com/literature or paypal.me/jackewilson. Contact the show at historyofliteraturepodcast@gmail.com.

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The History of Literature

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