From Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, to Pu Songling’s The Painted Skin, to Jordan Peele’s Us, to Lovecraft Country, to Monsterland, and to nearly countless vampire tales, our culture is filled with manifestations of the monster. These figures span genres, from mythology to oral tradition to poetry. It is a part of our human cartography.
Alongside this legacy, moments of history have sometimes raised the question: “Who is the monster?” The creatures we have created on screen and on the page, or the reflection staring back at us?
In this presentation, Shanta Lee explores what the monster has meant within literature and what it means within our human interactions.
Time: 1.5 hours (with Q & A)
Mileage
Projector, screen, computer
Available in correctional facilities.
First, contact the speaker by clicking on their biography below to confirm their availability and discuss any special arrangements.
Then, click the “Book this Talk!” button below to send a request form to Vermont Humanities. We’ll respond within one week.
Shanta Lee is the 2020 recipient of the Arthur Williams Award for Meritorious Service to the Arts and was named as Diode Editions’ full-length book contest winner for her debut poetry compilation, GHETTOCLAUSTROPHOBIA: Dreamin of Mama While Trying to Speak in Woke Tongues.
Our culture is filled with manifestations of the monster. These figures span genres, from mythology to oral tradition to poetry. It is a part of our human cartography. Alongside this legacy, moments of history have sometimes raised the question: “Who is the monster?” The creatures we have created on screen and on the page, or the reflection staring back at us?
This exploration starts with a question: what is the arc from Lucy Terry Prince to the modern moment of the spoken word within poetry? Lucy’s poem “Bars Fight” survived for 100 years in oral tradition before appearing for the first time in 1854 in the Springfield Daily Republican.
Poet Sarah Audsley joined us at the Taconic Mountains Ramble State Park for Words in the Woods.
Humanities Camps are filled with reading and writing projects, field trips, and outdoor activities.
We won a 2020 Schwartz Prize for best public humanities programming in the U.S. for Vermont Reads 2019: “March: Book One.”
We supported Historic New England’s “More than a Market” project that explored the experiences of new Americans through food markets.
Our free public events help bring the power of the humanities to communities across Vermont.
