Brian Reed's blog

Adam Mickiewicz (1798-1855) is a towering figure in Central and East European literary history.  You'll find monuments to him in three national capitals--Warsaw, Minsk, and Vilnius--as well as the Ukrainian city of Lviv.  In Krakow, he's buried in the Wawel, alongside Polish kings.  Haven't heard of him?  Me neither, not till long after I finished my Ph.D.

I've recently returned from an American studies conference on "transnational poetics" at Ruhr-University Bochum.  Many of the papers were first-rate, but there was a recurrent problem, namely, a lack of certainty regarding the meaning or value of the word "transnational." What differentiates a "transnational" approach to a literary topic from an "international" or "comparative" one?

I've just finished my third year as Director of Graduate Studies for my university's English department.  I've read a couple thousand applications for our MA/PhD program and spoken in person or on the phone to who knows how many prospective students (and to unsuccessful applicants).  I thought I'd share a few of the common mistakes that people make, in the interests of perhaps improving the process for everyone involved.

Recently I gave my first poetry reading. Since I am not a poet, this presented a problem.

While I am, in theory, a big proponent of the digital humanities, I'm also frequently underwhelmed by projects sold under that label. That's why I was excited recently to find a low-key, creative, straightforward example of how the internet can contribute substantively to humanities scholarship.

In 2009, I visited Kraków for the first time.  One day I bought a book by Wysława Symborska (1923-2012) and carried it around with me for a few hours.  Everywhere I went people stopped me to ask what I thought about her poetry.  I spoke at length with a hotel clerk and a grandmother on a bench in a park. I can't imagine anything similar happening in the United States.

Okay, I've turned forty.  On my birthday I celebrated my obsolescence by translating a sonnet titled "To a Corpse."

It's been a while since I posted to Arcade.  So many deadlines!  Several times a day I find myself mumbling, "But at my back I always hear / Time's winged chariot hurrying near." 

As Director of Graduate Studies for the University of Washington English Department, I am responsible for reading every application to our MA/PhD program.  I just finished file number four hundred sixty five and am allowed a few days' rest.

Last year I wrote a "best of 2009" post for Arcade.  This year I want to do something different.  I want to share someone else's list.  Part of it, anyway.