Mark Schenker – “We Too Are Here”: 100 Years of Great American Novels by Women [Zoom]

Mark Schenker will take a reset in his ongoing lecture series at Wilton Library on major American novels of the 20th century, which reached the late 1950s last fall. For this spring and summer, he will present two connected four-part series on eight American novels, all by critically acclaimed woman novelists. These series will be offered via Zoom with a bonus: the fourth and eighth sessions will be in-person in the Brubeck Room (as well as on Zoom) with a short reception after the lecture to chat with Schenker and each other.

The titles span a full century and bring in considerations of race and ethnicity (African-American, Jewish-American, Native-American), and of immigration (from China, Central Europe, Mexico). The settings of these stories represent a striking array of American cities, states, and regions.

Taken together, these works of fiction invite you to think critically about the limitations of the idea of The Great American Novel and to embrace the broadest meaning of the word pluribus (“many”) in the traditional American motto: E Pluribus Unum.

Attendees are not expected to read or reread all or even any of the novels, but a familiarity with them will of course make the lectures more meaningful.

Spring series:
April 12 – My Antonia, Willa Cather
April 19 – Wise Blood, Flannery O’Connor
May 3 – The Woman Warrior, Maxine Hong Kingston
May 10 – Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison.

June series:
June 8 – Housekeeping, Marilynne Robinson
June 15 – The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros
June 22 – The Shawl, Cynthia Ozick
June 29 – The Night Watchman, Louise Erdrich

Registration is required. Register on the Wilton Library website or call 203.762.6334. As convenience, you will automatically be registered for all eight sessions. For more information, contact Michael Bellacosa.