Wilton Library To Present Winter Poetry Program

WILTON, CT — The library will be hosting a 4-week literature seminar covering selected works by Chaucer, Spenser, Shakespeare and Wordsworth, augmented by commentary by literary giant the late Harold Bloom. Poetry packet available at front desk one week before the seminar begins.

The seminar will be led by Judson Scruton, an adjunct professor of English at Fairfield University.

From the press release: "Harold Bloom was generally considered the most important and popular literary critic of the last 100 years when he died last October. The author of over 40 books and the editor of more than 800, his 2004 The Best Poems of the English Language provides a useful introduction to his thinking. Unlike most college anthologies of English poetry that reflect the contending tastes and theories of a collection of editors, this anthology reflects the massively informed and discerning intelligence of a single mind. Bloom was a voracious reader (400 pages an hour with a near photographic memory) and synthesizing intellect that substantially shaped our thinking about The Western Canon, the values of reading, and the centrality of Shakespeare in 'inventing' our ideas of the human. Our seminars will discuss selected works from his sampling and commentaries on Chaucer, Spenser, Shakespeare and Wordsworth. Bloom is a marvelous guide and prompt to our own reading and discussion of selected poems by these four formative masters of English poetry and thought."

There is no charge for the program. This seminar is made possible with the support of the Literary Series in Memory of Amy Quigley. Advance registration required. Register online or call 203-762-6334. By registering for the first session you will automatically be registered for all four sessions.