Presented by The Mill: A Place for Writers
and co-sponsored by the Neenah Public Library
The Mill and the Neenah Public Library present: “Masterworks of 20th Century Fiction.” The “Masterworks” will explore three very different works in May and June: James Joyce’s Ulysses, Muriel Spark’s The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, and Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita. The talks will engage, entertain, enlighten, and encourage readers. (You need not have read any of these works beforehand, nor do you have to attend all three talks to participate in the conversation.)
Saturday, May 20, 1:00 p.m.: An Introduction to James Joyce’s Ulysses. Presented by Dr. Steven Polansky. Dr. Polansky was born in Queens, educated at Wesleyan, Hollins, and Princeton. He’s taught at Princeton, St. Olaf College, Macalester, and the University of Minnesota. His short fiction has appeared in The New Yorker, Harper’s, and Best American Stories. His collection of short stories, Dating Miss Universe, won the Sandstone Prize for Fiction and the 2000 Minnesota Book Award. His novel, The Bradbury Report, was published in 2010. His story, “Obsequies,” will appear in the 2017 Spring/Summer Edition of Glimmer Train.
Saturday, May 27, 1:00 p.m.: An Introduction to Muriel Spark’s The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, will be delivered by Gillian Sherriffs. Ms. Sherriffs grew up in Scotland. She earned an MA in English Language from the University of Glasgow in 1992 then embarked on a business career that led her to live and work in the US, France, and Austria. After more than a decade, still passionate about literature, she retrained as a high school English teacher. In 2007, having been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, she began writing in order to explore the odd world of illness into which she had been thrust. Her short stories and poetry have been published in anthologies of Scottish writing. In 2014 she gained a Masters in Creative Writing from the University of Glasgow. Ms. Sherriffs moved to Neenah two years ago and is on The Mill’s Board of Directors. She is a devotee of Scotland’s much loved and highly acclaimed novelist, Dame Muriel Spark.
Saturday, June 3, 11:00 a.m.: “An introduction to Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita” with Peter John Thomas. Dr. Thomas is Professor of Russian at Lawrence University. He is the recipient of two teaching prizes at LU: The Freshman Studies Teaching Prize in 2015, and the 2013 Award for Excellent Teaching by a Young Faculty Member at Lawrence. In presenting the 2013 Award for Excellent Teaching to Professor Thomas, President Jill Beck stated: “In addition to passion, you demonstrate a deep mastery of the material that brings new insights to complex texts and enables students to see new connections and construct new ideas. . . You are praised for motivating students to think independently about issues in the texts without suggesting answers to them. Every course you teach has been a complete success and has had a transforming effect on your students.”
For more information, please contact the Neenah Public Library adult reference desk by phone: 920-886-6315 or e-mail: [email protected].
This program was made possible by the Friends of the Neenah Public Library and the Neenah Public Library Trust Fund. Donations to the Friends and the Trust Fund are always accepted and appreciated.
