Reading and Rereading During The Pandemic

Marquette University's COVID Conversations

This conversation focuses on the value of reencountering works of art—and especially writing—during a pandemic. We touch on how the meditative focus of re-reading can help combat doomscrolling and the attention deficit of a 24-hour bad-news cycle. We also discuss how returning to beloved written works can offer solace and strength during difficult times. Participants include:

Gerry Canavan - is an associate professor in the English Department here at Marquette, specializing in twentieth- and twenty-first-century literature. His first book, Octavia E. Butler, appeared in 2016 in the Modern Masters of Science Fiction series at the University of Illinois Press.

Angela Sorby - is a professor in the English Department at Marquette. She has published 4 single-author books and 2 edited collections. She has won multiple awards for her poetry, including a Midwest Book Award and the Brittingham Prize.

Amy Cooper Cary - is Head of Special Collections and University Archives in the Raynor Memorial Libraries at Marquette University. In addition to her MLIS, she holds a Masters in Comparative Literature and Translation, and is an eclectic reader with interests in British history and dystopian fiction.

For more information on the podcast or the research being done at Marquette University, you can visit Marquette's COVID-19 research initiative here: https://www.marquette.edu/innovation/covid-19-research.php

You can email the podcast at [email protected]

Music is "Phase 2" by Xylo Ziko https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Xylo-Ziko/Phase_2