Spring Break
Nelson Presents Updated Chaucer Work
Carolyn Morway
Issue date: 10/13/06 Section: Focus
Geoffrey Chaucer may have died over 600 years ago, but his greatest literary contribution, "The Canterbury Tales," continues to be celebrated today, as seen at UConn Thursday evening. Marilyn Nelson, Connecticut's Poet Laureate and a UConn Emeritus Professor of English, was given a warm welcome back to UConn as she read excerpts from her 2005 book "The Cachoeira Tales," a modern African-American interpretation of Chaucer's work.
Following Nelson's reading was a critique of her book by one of the world's leading medieval scholars, David Wallace, who is also president of the New Chaucer Society and a professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania. The event was sponsored by the UConn English Department, Medieval Studies Program, Institute for African American Studies, Creative Writing Program and MELUS. About 50 students and professors settled in one of the Chemistry Building's lecture rooms at 7 p.m. to hear Nelson speak.
Mirroring Chaucer's poetic narrative, Nelson creates her own fictitious travelogue from an actual journey that she took in 2002 to the northern part of Brazil with her brother and sister. Besides using her own voice as the book's narrator and featuring her siblings' realistic stories, Nelson incorporates other imaginary characters that bring comic relief with their appearances. Nelson's work, like Chaucer's, challenges people to rethink present global institutions. For Chaucer in 14th century England, these institutions included social class, religion and gender. Nelson took a refreshingly different approach by bringing up more current issues such as economic disparity and racial and ethnic discrimination within her poem. Monoswita Saha, a 5th -semester economics and English double major, said Nelson's book was very powerful because she was "applying it to her own culture and experience." In addition to Nelson's strong, controversial themes was her unique ability to read the iambic pentameter couplet scheme that, true to Chaucer, she courageously maintained throughout her entire book.
"She's got this great voice for poetry and it really speaks to the audience," said Monoswita Saha, a 5th-semester economics and English major.
After Nelson finished her readings, Wallace gave his insightful response to "The Cachoeira Tales." He remarked that all too often, "Distance in time is equal to distance in culture" and commended Nelson for bridging the centuries gap between Chaucer and modern literature by tying the two subjects through cultural means.
The evening finished with questions from the audience for both Nelson and Wallace and then a casual reception.
"[I was] very impressed with both of the speakers," said Chelsea Roday, a 7th-semester English major.
The unique combination of creative poetry and medieval studies under the topic of Chaucer provided the audience with a great deal to be interested in at this event.
Following Nelson's reading was a critique of her book by one of the world's leading medieval scholars, David Wallace, who is also president of the New Chaucer Society and a professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania. The event was sponsored by the UConn English Department, Medieval Studies Program, Institute for African American Studies, Creative Writing Program and MELUS. About 50 students and professors settled in one of the Chemistry Building's lecture rooms at 7 p.m. to hear Nelson speak.
Mirroring Chaucer's poetic narrative, Nelson creates her own fictitious travelogue from an actual journey that she took in 2002 to the northern part of Brazil with her brother and sister. Besides using her own voice as the book's narrator and featuring her siblings' realistic stories, Nelson incorporates other imaginary characters that bring comic relief with their appearances. Nelson's work, like Chaucer's, challenges people to rethink present global institutions. For Chaucer in 14th century England, these institutions included social class, religion and gender. Nelson took a refreshingly different approach by bringing up more current issues such as economic disparity and racial and ethnic discrimination within her poem. Monoswita Saha, a 5th -semester economics and English double major, said Nelson's book was very powerful because she was "applying it to her own culture and experience." In addition to Nelson's strong, controversial themes was her unique ability to read the iambic pentameter couplet scheme that, true to Chaucer, she courageously maintained throughout her entire book.
"She's got this great voice for poetry and it really speaks to the audience," said Monoswita Saha, a 5th-semester economics and English major.
After Nelson finished her readings, Wallace gave his insightful response to "The Cachoeira Tales." He remarked that all too often, "Distance in time is equal to distance in culture" and commended Nelson for bridging the centuries gap between Chaucer and modern literature by tying the two subjects through cultural means.
The evening finished with questions from the audience for both Nelson and Wallace and then a casual reception.
"[I was] very impressed with both of the speakers," said Chelsea Roday, a 7th-semester English major.
The unique combination of creative poetry and medieval studies under the topic of Chaucer provided the audience with a great deal to be interested in at this event.
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