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  Edgar Lee Masters Program Series: The Small-Town Experience in Spoon River Anthology   

Edgar Lee Masters Program Series: The Small-Town Experience in Spoon River Anthology

  • Location: ISM Dickson Mounds Museum, Lewistown
  • Date: Sunday, May 17, 2015, 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM

Dickson Mounds Museum is hosting a lecture, “The Small Town Experience in Spoon River Anthology”, as part of the 100th Anniversary of the Spoon River Anthology program series, on Sunday, May 17, 2015 at 1:00 p.m. John Hallwas will speak on how the poet’s experience in Lewistown and Petersburg impacted the writing of his famous book.

Masters had a complex, troubled relationship to his small-town background. Also, his book was written at a time when the American small town was dealing with great challenges, due to cultural change, and people who had built their lives around the rhythms of rural and small-town society often experienced significant stress.

John Hallwas is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Western Illinois University. He produced Spoon River Anthology: An Annotated Edition (1992), a Choice Best Academic Book, which disclosed the background for Masters famous poetic monologues and discussed his view of America.

By reading and focusing on selected poems, Hallwas will reveal how the Anthology reflects crucial issues about human life—such as identity, belonging, and status—issues that were increasingly problematic in the small-town Midwest. With two dozen books and hundreds of articles in print, Hallwas is a widely published author, who has spoken extensively on small-town life, Midwestern history, and Illinois writers.

Admission is free, but donations are appreciated. Registration is not required. Light refreshments will be served following the lecture.

The Illinois State Museum - Dickson Mounds is located between Lewistown and Havana off Illinois Routes 78 and 97. The museum is open free to the public from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. every day. Tours and special programs are available for groups with reservations. For more information call 309.547.3721 or TTY 217.782.9175 or visit the www.experienceDicksonMounds.com. Also check out weekly updates on Facebook at “Illinois State Museum – Dickson Mounds”.

For more events at ISM Dickson Mounds Museum.