Lannan Fellows

• ABOUT THE PROGRAM
• POETRY SEMINAR
• HOW TO APPLY

If you’ve ever wanted to spend a year immersed in contemporary poetry, meeting and talking to acclaimed writers and scholars, then the Lannan Fellows Program may be of special interest to you.

Lannan Literary Programs has scheduled several events at Georgetown (also in conjunction with the Davis Performing Arts Center) and at the Folger Shakespeare Library in downtown Washington, D.C. during the Fall and Spring semesters. These events consist of poetry readings or performances, informal seminars with visiting writers, catered suppers, and receptions where Fellows can socialize with guest artists and other visitors.

The program runs for the academic year, and so there’s time for Lannan Fellows to get to know each other and to discuss, in a number of ways and contexts, the state of contemporary culture at home and abroad. The Fellowship stipulates two requirements:

1. In the Fall & Spring, Lannan Fellows attend the full series of literary events (about 6-8 each semester; beginning in October, 2007);
   
2. In the Spring semester Fellows also enroll in the Lannan Poetry Seminar, an advanced (3-credit) course in poetry & poetics built around the year’s reading series (see course description below).
   

The Lannan Fellows Program combines rigorous academic study with the opportunity to explore areas of professional development in arts-related fields.

Click here for the For the 2007-2008 schedule of events

For further information, please contact Professor Louise Bernard at lb267@georgetown.edu. (Professor Mark McMorris, mcmorrim@georgetown.edu, director of Lannan Literary Programs, is on leave for fall 2007.)

 

ENGL-334-01 LANNAN POETRY SEMINAR

Spring only
Instructor: Mark McMorris

Framed around the Reading Series, the Lannan Poetry Seminar encourages dynamic critical thinking and creativity with a view to examining literary forms and practices; the work of individual authors; the relationship between writing and other arts; and the place of writing in contemporary culture. Fellows study and discuss the work of the year’s scheduled guests and then produce an independent final project (creative or critical) under the guidance of the instructor. There are also opportunities for students to share their own writing and, importantly, to participate in a service-learning component—organizing and facilitating educational outreach efforts in the D.C. Community.

Enrollment in this seminar is limited to the Lannan Fellows.

 

How to Apply

Application Deadline: Friday, October 5, 2007, 5:00 p.m., in 306 New North

To apply, please write a letter of intent in which you explain your interest in becoming a Lannan Fellow for the 2007-2008 academic year. How might this intensive contact with the study of poetry as a particular genre, as well as with various writers, stimulate your creative and intellectual goals? You should state clearly what experience, if any, you’ve had with poetry or the other creative arts (writing, criticism, or fine arts courses you’ve taken; literary, visual, or performance genres that interest you). You need not be a poet to apply to the program although you should have had some prior acquaintance with the practice or the study of the arts (in or outside of class) in order to benefit fully from the year’s events. Applicants must demonstrate a firm interest in contemporary arts and letters and must show evidence of a serious commitment to independent study.

The letter should be about a page in length, single-spaced, and the application must include an unofficial transcript (a résumé is optional). Remember also to include your contact information: phone number, email address, and mailing address. Please send your application to: Prof. Louise Bernard, Department of English, 306 New North.

Selected applicants will be invited to attend a short interview with Professors Bernard and McMorris.

Application Deadline: Friday, October 5, 2007, 5:00 p.m., in 306 New North