A Short Course on The Waste Land
Online-Thursdays, September 1-29, 2022
“The Waste Land” by T.S. Eliot, published in 1922, is widely regarded as one of the most influential, powerful— and at times
one of the most controversial—modernist poems of the twentieth century. The poem’s collaged, fragmentary style, its frequent shifts among
speakers, its use of literary allusions and its storied “difficulty” gave new meaning to literary engagement when the poem reached its first readers.
To celebrate the centenary of the iconic 434-line poem, Community of Writers staff poets Robert Hass and Brenda Hillman will guide readers through an examination and a meditative reading of the five parts of “The Waste Land” on five consecutive Thursdays of September, focusing on one part per session, tracing the poem’s memorable imagery and references in an investigation of its themes and legendary lines. In this time of climate change, pandemic and global despair, special attention will be paid to the way the poem is still relevant as it addresses urban environmental anxiety and the human condition, perhaps with an eye to finding how its techniques and phrases might deliver an odd comfort and energy for our time.
This course will take place on Zoom or a similar platform.
This event is supported by the International T.S. Eliot Society. Learn more at tseliot.sites.luc.edu.
Dates/Times: Thursdays in September, 2022 4:00-6:00 PM (Pacific) on Zoom