Eos
A Scholarly Society Dedicated to Africana Receptions of Ancient Greece and Rome

READS

READS is a seminar series focused on seminal works from the African diaspora. READS aims to prepare Classicists to incorporate these works into their course curricula and scholarship. Each READS session features one work or set of related texts. To foster productive and engaged conversations, participants in a READS session prepare the readings in advance, using discussion questions provided by the facilitators. Previous offerings are listed below.

Interested in proposing a READS session?  Let us know who you are, which text(s) you want to focus on, and where you plan to facilitate the session (e.g., CAAS, your campus). Proposers are responsible for preparing study guides and for recruiting and communicating with participants as needed. We also invite proposers to consider sharing their materials with other facilitators for repeat sessions at other venues.

 

2018: Gwendolyn Brooks' 'The Anniad'

 
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‘The Anniad’ is a poem from Gwendolyn Brook’s Pulitzer Prize winning collection, Annie Allen. The title puns on the main character’s name and Vergil’s Aeneid. The poem itself chronicles the life, self-conception, and desires of an African-American woman in light of war and anti-Black racism. Brooks’ complex legacy, including her connection to the Euro-American canon and the reception of her work in different waves of African-American literary studies, can help us examine many aspects of Classical reception, from direct allusion and formal technique to the politics of canonicity.

In 2018-2019, Eos hosted discussions of this poem at the annual meetings of the Classical Association of the Atlantic States and the Classical Association of New England and at the University of Kentucky’s Foreign Languages, Literatures, and Cultures Conference.

READS, CONFERENCEEos: Africana Receptions of Ancient Greece and Romepoetry, epic, African-American literature, Black Arts Movement, colorism