2024 Virtual Speaker Series
A Field Guide to the Poetry of Theodore Roethke
About the series
A Field Guide to the Poetry of Theodore Roethke (edited by William Barillas and published by Ohio University Press in 2021) is a constellation of essays that reanimates the work of Theodore Roethke for a new century. In this series, four of the contributors will discuss the poem they wrote about in the book while sharing their individual perspectives on Roethke’s life, work, and legacy.
About this session
Marc Malandra shares his thoughts about “Moss Gathering,” one of the “greenhouse poems” in Roethke’s second book of poetry, The Lost Son and Other Poems, published in 1948. “Moss-Gathering,” describes a task that Theodore Roethke was given as a child as a contribution to the family's greenhouse business: collecting moss for cemetery arrangements. Of all the greenhouse poems, this one displays the greatest evidence of biocentrism: the view that all organisms, including humans, are part of a larger biotic web whose interests must govern the human interest. It is arguably the strongest environmentalist text in Roethke’s work. The presentation will conclude with time for audience questions and conversation.
About Marc Malandra
Marc Malandra is Professor of English at Biola University in La Mirada, California. He received his bachelor’s degree in literature from the College of Creative Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and master’s in English and Creative Writing from the University of California, Davis. He also received a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and a Ph.D. in English from Cornell University. He has taught at Cornell University, the University of California, Davis, various businesses and high schools in Japan, the University of California, Santa Cruz Extension, and Hartnell College. His areas of specialization are American literature, multicultural literature, poetry, and creative writing.
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