Events

VAS: GOOD DUST

Thursday, November 6, 7:30 PM

Wabash College Fine Arts Center
Salter Hall

Can Poetry Make Something Happen?

In 1907 the poet Ezra Pound was hired to teach literature at Wabash College. After four months he was kicked out for consorting with low company and refusing to comb his hair. He went on to write a lot of good poetry and make some horrible decisions, such as supporting Italian fascism. In response, the greatest poet of the next generation, W.H. Auden, rejected any relation between poetry and politics, writing in his elegy for W.B. Yeats that “poetry makes nothing happen.” Yeats, like Pound, had harbored hopes that his literary work might inspire a political movement. In the background of this debate lies the example of William Blake, a crucial forerunner for all three poets who demanded not only political but cosmic relevance for the poet. Whose approach should we follow today? Can poetry make something happen? Ought it to? In this presentation, Dr. Dunlap will respond to these questions and distract his audience from the inadequacy of his response by performing original musical settings of poems by Pound, Auden, Blake, and other visionary artists.

Bio

Aron Dunlap is a songwriter, academic and author. He has a Ph.D. in Religion from Temple University and is currently associate professor in the Shimer Great Books School at North Central College (Naperville, IL), where he has been since 2017. He has published a book, Lacan and Religion, and academic articles on topics ranging from the films of David Cronenberg to psychoanalytic themes in the Harry Potter series. He performs as Good Dust with his wife and musical partner, Pauline Sachar. His academic and musical sides come together in lecture/performances on modern poetry, Shakespeare (The Food of Love) and W.H. Auden (Playing in Earnest). He has presented these hybrid works—featuring original musical settings of poetry alongside critical commentary—in universities, churches, artist retreats, bookstores and high schools across the country.

General Audiences: This event is suitable for all ages.