Central Connecticut State University
 

“LOOK BACK ON ME”
New England Celebrates the 150th Anniversary of
Walt Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass”
 


 

 Miguel Tió, Leaves of Grass (Homage to Walt Whitman). On display in Burritt Library.
Miguel Tió, Leaves of  Grass (Homage to Walt Whitman). On display in Burritt Library.

 

 “Look Back on Me” is an inter-disciplinary program to reconsider the legacy of what is arguably the most influential contribution to American letters in the past 150 years. The program will feature panel discussions, an exhibit, theatrical and musical performances, and poetry readings by former U.S. poet laureate Billy Collins and Martín Espada. The exceptional guest speakers include the two most prominent Whitman biographers, David S. Reynolds, whose Walt Whitman’s America: A Cultural Biography won the Bancroft Prize, and Jerome Loving, whose Walt Whitman: The Song of Himself is one of the most definitive biographies of the “good gray poet”; Karen Karbiener, a dynamic instructor of Whitman’s poetry at New York University; Martín Espada, a major Latino poet whose verse is consistently compared to Whitman’s; and Billy Collins, the former US Poet Laureate (2001-2003) and the most popular American poet in recent history. The events are free and open to the public.

The exhibit features Ed Centeno’s Whitman collection, presenting “Images of Walt Whitman: The Commercialization of an American Original” and demonstrating his pervasive influence on American material culture—from the Whitman sampler to the more recent gay, iconic appropriation. The library site can be accessed at this link.

For directions to CCSU and a campus map, follow this link.
 

EVENTS SCHEDULE

Thursday, September 22

12:30 – 2:15 pm   Torp Theater
Central Connecticut State University Students/Faculty Poetry Reading. Introductory remarks by Dr. Jack Miller, President of CCSU.
Coordinators Professor Ravi Shankar, author of Instrumentality (2004) & Professor David Cappella, author of Gobbo: A Solitaire’s Opera (2005)

2:30 – 4:00 pm  Torp Theater
"American Icons: Walt Whitman and Mark Twain," presented by Professor Jerome Loving, Texas A&M University, and author of Walt Whitman: The Song of Himself (1999).

Professor Karen Karbiener, New York University, curator of the exhibit “Walt Whitman and The Promise of America, 1855-2005” at South Street Seaport, New York City

4:15 – 5:15 pm  Elihu Burritt Library Special Collections Department
Reception and Book Signing, Exhibit “Images of Walt Whitman: The Commercialization of an American Original”

7:00 pm  Torp Theater
Performance Extravaganza: Theatre & Music!
Introductory Remarks by Dr. Susan Pease, Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences.
Theatre: World premiere of "I Sing the Body Electric," a new stage work based on Whitman's poetry created by CCSU Professor Thom Delventhal and performed by CCSU students.

Music: World premiere of two new settings of Whitman texts by CCSU Professors Brian Kershner and Charles Paul Menoche. Performances of these works and other settings of Whitman's poetry by Maksim Ivanov and the CCSU University Singers directed by Dr. Pamela Perry.

8:15-8:30pm – Break

8:30 pm  Torp Theater
Martín Espada, poet and author of Alabanza: New and selected poems, 1982-2002 (2003), will read from his work.

9:30 pm  Founders Hall Davidson
Reception and Book Signing with Martín Espada

 

Friday, September 23

2:30 – 3:15 pm             Torp Theater
"A Poet's Utopia: The 1855 Leaves of Grass and the American 1850s" presented by Professor David S. Reynolds, Graduate Center, City University of New York and author of Walt Whitman’s America (1995), and John Brown Abolitionist (2005)

3:30 – 5:00 pm            Torp Theater
Panel Discussion: Billy Collins, Martín Espada, Karen Karbiener, Jerome Loving, and David S. Reynolds. Moderator: Professor Robert M. Dowling

7:00 – 8:00 pm            Welte Auditorium
Billy Collins, former U.S. Poet Laureate (2001-2003).
Introductory remarks by Dr. Ellen Whitford, Provost of CCSU

8:30 – 10:00 pm          Founders Hall Davidson
Book signing and reception with Billy Collins

Information: Professor Robert M. Dowling: DowlingRom@ccsu.edu; (860) 832-2741.

“Look Back on Me” is sponsored by the generous support of the CCSU Alumni Association, Art Department, CCSU Bookstore, Center for Caribbean and Latin American Studies, English Department, CCSU Foundation, Inc., Frank Gagliardi, Friends of the Elihu Burritt Library, History Department, Latin American Student Organization, CCSU Media Board, Music Department, School of Arts & Sciences, and Office of Sponsored Programs.
 

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