led by Peter Orner
On August 1, 1851, as he was finishing Moby Dick, Herman Melville rode over to see his neighbor and friend, Nathaniel Hawthorne and his wife Sophia. Going to see Hawthorne was Melville’s own birthday present to himself. The two spent hours talking and, even though Sophia forbade it, smoking. Hawthorne wrote in his diary: “After supper, I put Julian to bed; and Melville and I had a talk about time and eternity, things of this world and of the next, that lasted pretty deep into the night; and if truth be told we smoked cigars even within the sacred precincts of the sitting room. At last, he arose, and saddled his horse and rode off for his own domicile; and I hastened to make the most of what little sleeping-time remained for me.”
While I consider reading primarily a solitary act, there is something about reading together. It’s hard to put my finger on what it is. But in a way it makes me think of these two old literary buddies talking into the night about time and eternity. Can you imagine? Melville and Hawthorne in that illicitly smoked filled room? The flashes of insight that must have passed between them? The stories? Did they keep Sophia and Julian awake with their laughter?
We’re going to read Moby Dick, and only Moby Dick, and we’re going to talk about it, slowly, chapter by chapter. Okay, we might sneak in “Bartleby” at the beginning just to get us in the mood, but you get the idea, I only want to talk about the book, not about what so called experts have to say about the book. Old friends, and new ones, talking into the night in the spirit of Melville and Hawthorne about time and eternity, things of this world and the next…Because if ever there was book that attempted to wrap all of these enormous ideas in one story, it’s this one. I hope to see you.
-Peter Orner
Register
Dates & Times: Online Sundays October 19 to November 23. Main sessions run from 4 pm to 6 pm (Pacific) with optional discussion groups to follow.
- Sunday, October 19, 2025
- Sunday, October 26, 2025
- Sunday, November 2, 2025
- Sunday, November 9, 2025
- Sunday, November 16, 2025
- Sunday, November 23, 2025 4:00-6:00 PT / 7:00-9:00 ET
- BONUS SESSION: Tuesday, November 25, 2025 4:00-6:00 PT / 7:00-9:00 ET
Note: For those who are interested, intimate Zoom discussion groups (Virtual Houses) will meet after each session and on subsequent Saturdays at 10 AM.
Course Texts
For this course, our texts will be
Moby-Dick: or, The Whale, by Herman Melville (Modern Library Classics)
Participants who don’t own the text are asked to purchase at least the required text, if possible, before October 19. It is best to use the same text even if you already own a different copy. That way we can reference specific pagination and move quickly through this large book.
Handouts for each session will be posted online. Additional reading materials, including essays and short fiction will be added.
Leadership
Born in Chicago, Peter Orner is the author of seven acclaimed
books, including Maggie Brown & Others; Love and Shame
and Love; Esther Stories, a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway
Award; and Am I Alone Here?, a finalist for the National Book
Critics Circle Award. A recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship
and the Rome Prize, he has published work in The New Yorker,
The Paris Review, and The Best American Short Stories, and
has been awarded four Pushcart Prizes. With Yvette Benavides,
he’s the co-host of podcast The Lonely Voice on Texas Public
Radio. Orner is chair of the Department of English and Creative
Writing at Dartmouth College and lives with his family in Norwich,
Vermont.
What to Expect:
- Six, two-hour weekly sessions online with assigned reading. The group can be large, depending on the course.
- In the first 60 or 70 minutes, Peter will explore and supply background on the previously assigned readings.
- In the second part, Peter will address questions and widen the discussion. Participant questions and comments will be submitted in the chat.
- Optional small (8-10 person) discussion groups will be available to those with the energy and interest after the formal session is over. Discussion guides will be provided.
- These sessions will be recorded, and will be available for later viewing by registered participants for 30 days following the final session
Tuition:
- Early Bird Tuition is $324 (deadline: midnight on Tuesday, October 14)
- Standard Tuition is $360.
- Limited financial aid available. Please contact us if needed.
Register Now
The Writers Annex
Online, and year-round, The Writers’ Annex is composed of short courses, seminars, workshops, and more. Our vision is to bring the creative insight and experience of our staff poets and prose writers to our community in all seasons, not just in the summertime, and not just here in our Valley. Our online offerings will address such topics as eco-poetics, translation, and generative sessions. Some will be one or two days, some will be weekend intensives, and some will meet weekly for a month or two. In addition, we hope these offerings will help offset the tremendous expenses we face as an organization for our traditional in-person events in Olympic Valley.