An ekphrastic poem is a vivid description of a scene or, more commonly, a work of art. Through the imaginative act of narrating and reflecting on the “action” of a painting or sculpture, the poet may amplify and expand its meaning. (definition courtesy of www.poetryfoundation.org)

Join us for an evening of poetry written in response to Quinton Oliver Jones’ paintings — the current art exhibit of works in the Reading Room and Wendt Room of the Athenaeum. Tonight’s readers will include local writers: M.P. Carver, Cathy Fahey, Liz Hutchinson, Kali Lightfoot, Kevin McCarthy, Peter Urkowitz, Clay Ventre, and Hannah Wagner.

CSEM Presents

La Folia: Renaissance & Baroque Masterpieces from Spain

Ensemble Trés Maresienne
Lisa Brooke, violin

Olav Chris Henriksen, vihuela & guitar

Carol Lewis, viola da gamba

La Tertulia is a group of members interested in keeping their Spanish speaking skills in practice. They meet on 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of each month.

All are welcome to bring work-in-progress to share with the group for feedback. The group is facilitated by J.D. Scrimgeour, Professor of English, Salem State University.

La Tertulia is a group of members interested in keeping their Spanish speaking skills in practice. They meet on 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of each month.

The Incessant Pipe Poetry Salon will meet on the 4th Tuesday of every month at 7pm upstairs in the Salem Athenaeum. “The Pipe” is a space to read poetry, yours or others, and discuss everything from the price of tea in China to quantum particles (as long as it relates back to poetry). All styles of poetry are welcome.

Come to our annual fundraiser party!

Did you miss the Sixties? Do you miss the Sixties? Either way, this is your chance to relive Woodstock, Motown, The Beatles & Alice’s Restaurant!

Got the munchies? We’ll have plenty of food, cash bar & live music from the Sixties performed by the band Rule of 3.

Sixties-style threads and treads encouraged but not required.

All are welcome to bring work-in-progress to share with the group for feedback. The group is facilitated by J.D. Scrimgeour, Professor of English, Salem State University.

Theo Theoharis, instructor
6 Saturdays

The term Victorian has accumulated many meanings in the 100 years since its century and ruler have passed–stodgy, disciplined, sentimental are a few words associated with English life during the century that made England the ruling power economically and politically in much of the world. In this class we will read some of the literature which presents different moods, ideas, and aspirations from those we are accustomed to thinking of as Victorian, namely: antic comedy and cultural fantasizing in two novels, and longing, depth psychology, and sublimity in three poets. We will start with Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, then move on to the poems of Matthew Arnold, Robert Browning, and Alfred, Lord Tennyson, and end with the Imperial Adventure story She, by H. Rider-Haggard, a great popular favorite whose readers included Sigmund Freud. There is a light-heartedness and well as intensity about the literature of this era. Let’s discover how these two tones relate to a world now past, which in many ways created and continues in ours.

The following is the list of preferred editions for the course texts:

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass, Lewis Carroll, Modern Library
ISBN 978-0-375-76-138-6

The Penguin Book of Victorian Verse, editor Daniel Karlin, Penguin Classics
ISBN 978-0-140-44578-7

She, H. Rider Haggard, Penguin Classics
ISBN 978-0-140-43763-8

Syllabus

Class 1, Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland

Class 2, Through the Looking Glass

Class 3, Poems by Arnold, Browning, Tennyson

Class 4, Poems by Arnold, Browning, Tennyson

Class 5, She: A History of Adventure

Class 6, She: A History of Adventure