On Thursday, December 12, 2024, at 6:00 PM, two Boston College English professors will lead a discussion on American poetry from the Revolutionary and Early National periods. The program will explore poems published in Boston during this time, shedding light on forgotten works and the lives of early poets.
Christy Pottroff will present a contextual analysis of various artifacts related to Phillis Wheatley Peters and her husband, John Peters. She will explore how items like a nose ring, old coats, silver spoons, and a neighborhood park in Boston provide insight into their lives and experiences.
Paul Lewis will share findings from his research into American poetry by examining 4,500 poems published in fifty-nine magazines in Boston between 1789 and 1820. Along with Boston College English majors, Lewis uncovered forgotten poems that have breathed new life into the literary history of the time.
Paul Lewis, a professor emeritus at Boston College, is the past president of the Poe Studies Association and a noted scholar of literary Boston. He is the editor of The Citizen Poets of Boston: A Collection of Forgotten Poems, 1789-1820 and is currently writing a book about the early responses to Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven.” Lewis is also known for coining the term “Frankenfood.”
Christy L. Pottroff, an assistant professor at Boston College, teaches early and nineteenth-century American literature. Her book-in-progress, Postal Hackers, tells the stories of nineteenth-century misfits who creatively exploited the U.S. postal system.
