Literature

Discovering Poetry, Together
Dates: 9/21/2026 - 11/16/2026
Times: 1:00 PM - 2:20 PM
Days: M
Sessions: 8
Location: Zoom
Recorded
Seats Available: 50
Instructor: Susan Levasseur

The philosophy behind this course is simple: we appreciate poetry best when we read it with others. Our community combines returning members, working poets, and poetry lovers: we welcome new members to our group because they bring fresh perspectives. And you are welcome to simply “listen in” if you’re not sure how to talk about poetry: you will learn! Over the course of the semester, we will discuss various poems written in the English language from the Renaissance to today. We will read poems out loud while practicing our scansion skills, noting patterns of sound and rhythm. We will tease out meanings. We will discuss the historical and context that frames each poet and poem. Our goal will be to work towards a richer understanding of each poem together.

No class 10/12

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Transcendentalist Women: Champions of Social Justice
Dates: 9/24/2026 - 10/29/2026
Times: 10:00 AM - 11:20 AM
Days: Th
Sessions: 6
Location: Zoom
Recorded
Seats Available: 15
Instructor: Ellen Snoeyenbos

We will explore the profound but largely unrecognized influence the Transcendentalist women had on American history and movements for social change in America. Influencers include: Mary Moody Emerson, Margaret Fuller, Elizabeth Peabody, Lydia Maria Child, Lidian Emerson, Abigail Alcott, Louisa May Alcott, Caroline Healey Dall, Charlotte Forten. I will reach out to author, Megan Marshall, to ask for a Zoom interview as part of the class.

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Modern Ireland through Literature
Dates: 9/24/2026 - 10/29/2026
Times: 6:30 PM - 7:50 PM
Days: Th
Sessions: 6
Location: Zoom
Recorded
Seats Available: 31
Instructor: Paul Pelan

In this course on modern Ireland, students will explore contemporary Ireland through the lens of renowned Irish writers. Participants will explore a curated selection of three impactful books, each offering a unique perspective on the cultural, social, and historical fabric of modern Ireland.

Here is the book list to be read in this order.

1. The Gathering by Anne Enright
Vintage (UK), paperback — Vintage Books, 2007. ISBN-13: 9780099523826 (ISBN-10: 0099523825); ca. 261 pages. themorgan.org

2. Long Island by Colm Tóibín
(Simon & Schuster / Scribner): paperback (Oprah’s Book Club edition), Publisher: Scribner (an imprint of Simon & Schuster), Publication date: 02/25/2025, Pages: 304, ISBN‑13: 9781476785127

3. Big Girl, Small Town by Michelle Gallen
US publication (trade paperback / Algonquin Books): On sale December 1, 2020; trade paperback, 320 pages; ISBN-13 9781643750897. Available also as an eBook and audiobook

Book descriptions:

1. The Gathering (Anne Enright): A dark, intimate novel about family grief and memory, The Gathering follows Veronica Hegarty as she returns home after her brother Liam’s suicide. Through sharp, lyrical prose, Enright unravels family secrets, sibling rivalries, and the ways personal and collective pasts distort the truth, creating a powerful exploration of loss, culpability, and the messy ties that bind.

2. Long Island (Colm Tóibín): Set in contemporary Ireland, Long Island centers on a woman confronting marriage, desire, and the pull of past choices after a chance encounter rekindles old doubts. Tóibín’s spare, observant style illuminates interior life and quiet moral reckonings, rendering a nuanced portrait of longing, fidelity, and the small decisions that shape a life.

3. Big Girl, Small Town (Michelle Gallen:) Majella O’Neill, the novel’s deadpan, sharply observant heroine, scrapes by working in a local chip shop and caring for her al

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Trauma, Fire, and the Madwoman in the Attic: A Book Club Study of Jane Eyre
Dates: 9/29/2026 - 11/3/2026
Times: 5:00 PM - 6:20 PM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 6
Location: Zoom
Recorded
Seats Available: 42
Instructor: Kristen Morgan

Last fall we dove into Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights; this fall we’ll take on the work of her sister, Charlotte Brontë, and study Jane Eyre. A quintessential Victorian Era novel, Jane Eyre follows the physical, moral, and psychological development of its eponymous character, Jane. In the first class meeting, students will be introduced to the Brontë family and the Victorian Era while also being presented with a six-week at-home reading schedule. The foundation of each class thereafter will be discussions about the reading. The discussions will touch on topics addressed in the novel with a focus on madness and sanity, psychological abuse, and class and society. Join this course for six weeks of literary discussions of the Bildungsroman Jane Eyre.

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Between the Lines Book Club
Dates: 10/1/2026 - 12/3/2026
Times: 10:00 AM - 11:20 AM
Days: Th
Sessions: 3
Location: Zoom
Not Recorded
Seats Available: 43
Instructor: Nan Loggains

In this course, you will read and discuss three books. All sessions will be on Zoom. The first book will be West with Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge. The remaining two books will be announced during the first session of the group. Nan Loggains has led book groups for the past 25 years.

Class on 10/1, 11/5 and 12/3

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Faulkner: Three Classic Novels
Dates: 10/2/2026 - 11/20/2026
Times: 12:00 PM - 1:20 PM
Days: F
Sessions: 8
Location: Zoom
Recorded
Seats Available: 43
Instructor: John Winters

This course will examine three William Faulkner novels, As I Lay Dying, A Light in August, and The Sound and the Fury. Classes will be driven primarily by a close reading of each text and subsequent in-class discussions. The course will be on Zoom, and it will be recorded.

8-week course

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