Hollis Robbins (Fellow, 2017–18; Dean, School of Art & Humanities)

February 11, 2021

Throughout 18th- and 19th-century America, activists and abolitionists wrote and deployed poetry and personal narratives to voice outrage and spur opposition to slavery and race violence. How did these works ‘work’? Which ones were most effective and how do we know? What role does authenticity play and how much is literary craft? This webinar will explore the process of creating a poetic or narrative voice and how the tools used by the most celebrated practitioners are as powerful today.

Subjects

History / Literary Theory / Slavery / American History / Poetics / Personal Narratives / Abolitionism / African American Literature /