Professor’s Corner has invited all NFSPS members to join in a literary discussion group that meets 4th Mondays for four months at 7pm Central time. Summer and Fall 2023 sessions will be devoted to ecopoetry, defined as poems about our relationship to nature and the environment. Participants will explore selected poetry from The Ecopoetry Anthology (Trinity University Press, 2020), which consists of American poems from the mid-19th century to the present. Learn more. 

About the Meetings

This series will meet July 24, August 28, September 25, and October 23. 

POEMS FOR JULY 24 (with anthology page reference): 

• Wallace Stevens, “Anecdote of the Jar” / p. 31
• Wallace Stevens, “The Snow Man” / p. 31
• Sterling A. Brown, “Riverbank Blues” / p. 70
• Langston Hughes, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” / p. 72
• Langston Hughes, “Daybreak in Alabama” / p. 72
• Kenneth Rexroth, “Toward an Organic Philosophy” / p. 78
• Kenneth Rexroth, “Lute Music” / p. 81
• Kenneth Rexroth, “Lyell’s Hypothesis Again” / p. 82
• Kenneth Rexroth, “Andree Rexroth” / p. 84 
• Theodore Roethke, “Meditation at Oyster River” / p. 85 

How to Access Reading Materials

You can find the relatively inexpensive 2020 edition of the anthology at amazon here; it is also available elsewhere.  The Denton Public Library has copies at each of its three branches. The earlier (2013) edition of the anthology may also be used.

The page numbers provided above are valid for either the 2020 or 2013 edition of the anthology (purchase here). Some of the poems are also available online; links included above. 

How to Join the Group

You must sign up for the PROFESSOR’S CORNER MAILING LIST to join. To get on the Denton Public Library’s Professor’s Corner mailing list, please e-mail ProfessorsCornerDPL@gmail.com  and ask to be added to the mailing list.  (If you already get e-mails from Fred.Kamman@CityOfDenton.com, it means you’re already on the Professor’s Corner mailing list.)

More Information

1. This program is made possible in part by a grant from Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
2. Professor’s Corner is sponsored by the South Branch Library in Denton, which has supported the program enthusiastically since 1999.
3. The Denton Record Chronicle provided generous support for our first series; Lone Star Literary LIfe is providing support for our second series.
4. The TWU Library is providing research support.

PLEASE NOTE:  1) Programs funded by Humanities Texas, like this one, cannot participate in “political action” or “planning for direct political actions.”   2) And per Humanities Texas: “Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed  [through this program] do not necessarily represent those of Humanities Texas or the National Endowment for the Humanities.”  The same disclaimer can be made with respect to all other individuals and entities involved in the series sponsored by the Denton South Branch Library and with regard to the poetry chosen for discussion.   3) Some of the material encountered through this program may not be appropriate for all audiences. 4) Links provided in our communications with you (such as the Zoom invite) may not work if you have your VPN (Virtual Private Network) activated. 

For further information contact the Professor’s Corner producer and discussion leader,  Dr. Stephen Souris (Professor of English [Ret.], Texas Woman’s Univ.),  at  SSouris2002@yahoo.com.