Massolit: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

 

A while ago I recorded a lecture on Adventures of Huckleberry Finn for Massolit - it's available here for subscribers, with a short free preview for everyone else.

Public Lecture: Norfolk to New Orleans: Riding, Reading and Writing the Mississippi River, Norwich Forum, June 4th

Harriet Martineau, Jonathan Raban

This June, I'm delighted to be taking part in the UEA Showcase Week taking place at the Norwich Forum as part of the University's 50th anniversary celebrations. More details are available here, and the full schedule of talks (featuring some very hot tickets) is here. At 3pm on June 4th I'm going to be talking about Harriet Martineau and Jonathan Raban - two writers with Norfolk roots who travelled along the Mississippi River at rather different moments in its history. Readers with keen memories may remember that I've written about these two before - Martineau here (and in River of Dreams), and Raban here, if anyone wants to bone up in advance. The full blurb of the talk is below. Hope to see you there.

"Finding Your Roots": In Conversation with Branford Marsalis at the US Embassy

Branford Marsalis, me

Last week I was lucky enough to be asked to take part in an event at the US Embassy organised by PBS America to promote their new documentary series Finding Your Roots. They screened an episode that featured the New Orleans family histories of jazz legends Branford Marsalis and Harry Connick Jr. - you can watch a preview, here. Branford Marsalis himself flew in for the event, above, and I was part of a Q&A session with him after the screening. I'd certainly recommend watching the episode (indeed, the series) if you get a chance - it touches on fascinating dimensions of New Orleans history throughout, replaying so many of the issues and moments raised in Southern Queen in a very intimate way.

On Tour

Throughout February I'm embarking on what has turned out to be something of a micro-tour.

♠ On February 6th I'll speaking about Joseph Thompson Hare and other Transatlantic outlaws at Oxford University's new Transatlantic Literature in Context seminar series. English Faculty Seminar Room B, 5-6.30pm.

♠ On February 13th I'll be speaking at the University of Hertfordshire, about Mark Twain, the Mississippi, and other river writings in the decade after the Civil War. Details to follow.

♠ And on February 20th, I'll be talking about Twain again, this time at the University of Birmingham. Details are available here - Arts Building, Room 439, 4pm.

If you're attached to, or in the vicinity of, any of those institutions, come and say hello. Looking forward to it.

UEA Christmas Lectures for Children 2012

(Tickets available here)

I'm very excited to be giving one of the University of East Anglia Christmas Lectures for Children this year.

Guest Lecture: Queen's University Belfast

On Wednesday March 14th I'm going to be travelling to Queen's University Belfast to give a paper as part of their American History Colloquium. I'll be talking about outlaw Joseph Thompson Hare, pictured above. The full title is: "'We raked the wilderness': The Dying Confession of Joseph Hare and the Image of the Highwayman in the Antebellum South". It starts at 4pm, and, I believe, is in Peter Froggatt Centre (PFC) 2/018.

This paper comes out of work I was doing last summer, so it'll be nice to finally give it a public airing. And should you wish to make the acquaintance of Hare and his misadventures, there's a version of his story contained here, in P. R. Hamblin's 1836 collection United States Criminal History; Being a True Account of the Most Horrid Murders, Piracies, High-Way Robbers, &c. (Fayetteville, Mason & De Puy). Enjoy. You'll be hearing more about him in due course.