I think the impulse that defines an academic nature is that one responds to difficult moments by turning to the past to see how others have coped with similar times. So still reeling from unexpected grief, I turn to history as I contemplate the ways we deal with the inevitability of parting from those we…
Category: Beowulf
Reviews: Guerilla Blues & Beowulf
Guerrilla BluesAlessandra Bava People tend to think writers give their friends good reviews because they’re pals; the truth is you become friends with people who write stories or poems that inspire you to be better, to do more, to aim for dizzying heights. My jester — the poet of Rome — Alessandra’s new collection offers…
Friday’s Forgotten Books: Beowulf
I was thinking, “oh dear, I haven’t had any time at all to read lately and there’s nothing I’ve gotten far enough into [i.e. the Avram Davidson books, thanks Todd :-)] to write up” and then it hit me: Beowulf. Forgotten, you say with the questioning look in your eye. Don’t you teach it every…
Publication: Heofen rece swealg
My essay about the Grendel opera, “Heofen rece swealg: Neomedievalism and Spectacle in Grendel: Transcendence of the Great Big Bad” appears in the latest issue of This Year’s Work in Medievalism. This was the paper I gave at the conference in London, Ontario in October 2007, where Terry Jones of the Pythons was the keynote…
Publications
I always forget about so many of the things I’ve written until I have something jog my memory. This week my faulty memory was jogged by reminders about revisions. I had completely forgotten about one of the essays (yeah, that’s just how absent-minded I am) and that I was supposed to be revising it. Hee…
MST3K Beowulf
Tip o’ the keyboard to my theoretical co-editor Scott for linking to this at the Got Medieval blog, which highlights the following comments: * “Oh, please, sarcastic slow claps went out in the 200’s.” * “Gee, in my translation, Grendel wasn’t an effeminate mincing puss.” * “I am Beowulf, if that helps. Just throwing it…
Update: Human Cuisine
Well, I haven’t got a physical copy yet, but the editors of Human Cuisine have sent along electronic copies of the book. This means I got to re-read what I wrote at least three (?) years ago and see whether I was embarrassed by it. It’s not too bad, so I can live with it….
Publication: Human Cuisine
http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=magicwombat-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=1419693913&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr Now available, apparently — I have yet to see it, but surely you want to buy a copy anyway! My essay is on Grendel in Beowulf, a meditation on what it takes to frighten the intimidating warriors of that Anglo-Saxon epic. Only the horror of burial denied… no body, no funeral.
Teaser
More information in about a week, but here’s the cover from a book collection that I’ll be in. My contribution is an essay on Grendel in Beowulf. You can guess the theme, right? I wrote this piece so long ago and the project has had such a tortured history, that I had quite forgotten about…
Thursday Already?
My, how time flies! Tuesday night went well — we had a nice chat over an early dinner at the Pearl, then rushed over to the library amid a sudden downpour and an amazing rainbow (okay, the picture to the left is *not* the rainbow from that day, but one of myriad lovely images from…
K. A. Laity 