Public Lecture: ‘Edward Thomas and nature: melancholy, ecstasy and “the strange sweetness”‘ By Dr Anna Stenning
11th September 2018
University of Gloucestershire Public Lecture Series
Friday 5 October 2018, 6pm, TC001, Francis Close Hall, Swindon Road, Cheltenham, GL50 4AZ
Free entry. Please register via https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/edward-thomas-and-nature-melancholy-ecstasy-and-the-strange-sweetness-tickets-49387593622
Following an introduction to the work of the Friends of the Dymock Poets around the Gloucestershire villages associated with Edward Thomas, Robert Frost, Lascelles Abercrombie, Wilfrid Gibson and Ruper Brooke, Dr Stenning will introduce the life of the Edwardian poet and countryside writer Edward Thomas. Based on her PhD thesis on Thomas’s friendship with Robert Frost during his visits to Dymock and Ryton in 1914, she will present some of his lesser-known prose writings and poetry. Dr Stenning will discuss his experiences of joy in the open air, something that has often been overlooked in the focus on his more melancholy writings and involvement in World War One. Thomas’s preference for simple language, attention to the lives of the neglected people and wildlife, attest to a wider temporal vision. Showing that, like his friend Robert Frost, Thomas intended to be a poet ‘for all sorts and kinds’, Dr Stenning will explore the relevance of Edward Thomas’s proto-environmentalist vision today. The talk will be followed by a short Q&A discussion with Dr Stenning, members of the Friends of the Dymock Poets, and University of Gloucestershire staff.
Part of a weekend of events commemorating 25 years since the founding of the Friends of the Dymock Poets.
The University of Gloucestershire houses an extensive Dymock Poets Special Collection in the University’s Special Collections and Archives.
Supported by the Being Human Research Centre at the University of Gloucestershire.
Free parking on campus after 5pm.