LAZULI LITERARY GROUP
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  • AZURE: A Journal of Literary Thought
    • AZURE Volume 8 >
      • ALMOST STALE by Nathaniel Calhoun
      • CUCUMBER SALAD by Michael Pearce
      • PRACTICAL MEDICAL ADVICE FOR FEMALE SUBJECTS OF THE CAPE COLONY by Karen Jennings
      • PLAN B and others by M.B. McLatchey
      • IDIOSYNCRATIC ICONS: A MANIFESTO by Richard Collins
      • THE DARDANELLES (HERO AND LEANDER AT 60) by Greg Sendi
      • AN APPRECIATION OF THE SCHOLAR, ADALBERT by Vincent Mannings
      • ONE PARTING, YIELDING LINE by M. Ann Reed
      • THE RIVER FISHER'S DAUGHTER by Kirk Marshall
      • BEYOND THE GREAT HORIZON WALL by Kenny Kuhn
      • BLOOM by Michael Gessner
      • SOMETHING, I KNOW NOT WHAT by Ray Corvi
      • OF BUTLERS AND SPIES by Austin Barnes
      • WHAT THE FIRST GOD SPOKE I THINK WAS SUN by Richard Hague
      • SEELENKNARREN by Lorenz Poeschl
    • AZURE Volume 7, Issue 3 >
      • DECEMBER 25, 2022 by Aletha Irby
      • A SUMMARY OF 'A BRIEF HISTORY OF NASOCARPIA' by Peter Arscott
      • CARRYING CAPACITY by Charles Byrne
      • THE MUNE MONOLOGUES by Thomas Townsley
    • AZURE Volume 7, Issue 2 >
      • VARIATION ON A THEME & POSE POEM by Norman Minnick
      • THE MAP OF YOUR HANDS UNFOLDS A DOVE by Vikki C.
      • HISTORIES OF THE BEARD by Richard Hague
      • ILLUSTRATED COMMENTS ON THE APOPHATAPATAPHYSICAL METRICS OF COSMIC HUMOR by edo strannikov
    • AZURE Volume 7, Issue 1 >
      • ORANGES by John Moody
      • THE LACONIA by Wendy Webb
      • BREATH OF THE TEXT by Jeremiah Cassar Scalia
    • AZURE Volume 6, Issue 4 >
      • TO THOSE FOUND DEAD IN CHIMNEYS by R.W. Plym
      • WHAT TO EXPECT OF LIFE by Steven G. Kellman
      • IF IT WERE DRAWN by Jessica Reed
      • BLOOD IN THE ORCHIDS by Amanda Kotch
      • CORNELIUS RADHOPPER by Peter Arscott
    • AZURE Volume 6, Issue 3 >
      • ANIMAL INHERITANCE by akhir ali
      • THAT DUDE DERRIDA by Daniel Klawitter
      • FLAT-EARTH FRED by Phil Gallos
      • THE MYSTERY OF THE MISSING SEMICOLON by Orana Loren
      • MY BALDERDASHERY by Eric Paul Shaffer
    • AZURE Volume 6, Issue 2 >
      • MIRROR by Joshua Kepfer
      • CUE FALLING PIANO by D.C. Weaver
      • ANTON AND THE ECHO by Cristina Otero
      • THAT WHICH WE TRULY DON'T KNOW by JOACHIM GLAGE
      • CONGRATULATIONS by Alan Sincic
    • AZURE Volume 6, Issue 1 >
      • NEVER, NEVER LAND, MY SHIP by Mark Pearce
      • THE SMILE OF MONA LISA by Fatima Ijaz
      • OUROBOROS by Esme Sammons
      • THE DEPTHS OF THE SEA by Margaret D. Stetz
      • SNICKER-SNACK by Bruce Meyer
    • AZURE Volume 5, Issue 4 >
      • THE OWLET AND THE TURTLE by Greg Sendi
      • BRACTS and other poems by Nathaniel Calhoun
      • ANSWERS TO NON-EXISTENT QUESTIONS and other poems by Kevin Griffith
      • NEVERENDING KNOT by Jodie Dalgleish
      • LEARNING TO WALK by Jodie Dalgleish
      • OVERSOUL by P.S. Lutz
    • AZURE Volume 5, Issue 3 >
      • MAP OF MEMORY by Jesse Schotter
      • BISMILLAH by Abby Minor
      • MICROMORTS by Veronica Tang
      • LOVE LETTER TO LANGUAGE: AN ABECEDARIAN by Saramanda Swigart
      • IF YOU WERE ALL WATER by M. Ann Reed
    • AZURE Volume 5, Issue 2 >
      • CONTRA FORMALISME by Leland Seese
      • DRUNKEN MAN ON A BICYCLE by Dan Butterworth
      • WOLF TICKETS THROUGH THE FERAL WINTER by Kirk Marshall
      • SYLVANUS, BARD by Marc Lerner
      • THE LOOKING GLASS OF ARTHUR GORDON PYM by Frank Meola
    • AZURE Volume 5, Issue 1 >
      • INTIMATE THINGS by Laylage Courie
      • A SERIES OF PUNCTUATION by Hajar Hussaini
      • ROT AND GLORIANA by Laurel Miram
      • BLUES ON RED by Elie Doubleday
      • MY FICTION: REMEMBERING 50 YEARS OF WORK by Richard Kostelanetz
    • AZURE Volume 4, Issue 4 >
      • ENDNOTES FOR AN ALLOCUTION by Peter Freund
      • UKEMI (and other poems) by Nicole Vento
      • MEMORANDUM ON DESIRE by Laylage Courie
      • THE HOLYWOOD DEUTERONOMY by Jim Shankman
      • AT THE MAD HATTER-MARCH HARE ART GALLERY (and other poems) by M. Ann Reed
    • AZURE Volume 4, Issue 3 >
      • THE MACHINE, STOLEN FIRE, and PERFORMANCE by Vivek Narayan
      • FIRST FRUITS by Stephen Massimilla
      • ONCE UPON A TOMORROW-TIME by Christopher Routheut
      • YIELD LIGHT OF WAY by Ken Goodman
      • SEVEN TALES by Sara Streett
    • AZURE Volume 4, Issue 2 >
      • THE PUNCH-CARD CIPHERS by DF Short
      • SHE WAS THE FIRST TO GIVE A TOAST by Kelli Russell Agodon
      • HABLU L-WARIDI by Jesse Hilson
      • THE KEY TO DREAMS by Sean S. Bentley
      • SOFA, SO GOOD, SORT OF by Remy Ngamije
    • AZURE Volume 4, Issue 1 >
      • STAMPING THE DEAD by Habib Mohana
      • LEGS by A. Joachim Glage
      • I THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX by Heikki Huotari
      • LUŽÁNKY by V.B. Borjen
    • ARCHIVES: VOLUME 3 >
      • AZURE Volume 3, Issue 4 >
        • TALES UNSUITABLE FOR CHILDREN by Devon Ortega
        • WAKE UP by JayJay Conrad
        • AMONG THE MEN IS APRIL by Logo Wei
        • SWEET by Melinda Giordano
        • BLACK ROSES by Osamase Ekhator
        • MEET ME TONIGHT ON METAPHOR STREET by Vivek Narayan
      • AZURE Volume 3, Issue 3 >
        • MENAGE A TROIS, WITH HORSE by Don Dussault
        • THE BLACK by Ben Colandrea
        • BLUE SKY LANGUAGE by Christien Gholson
        • UN DETECTIVE VIEJO by Franco Strong
      • AZURE Volume 3, Issue 2 >
        • THE CLEANSING by Linda Dennard
        • SHUFFLE by Debbie Fox
        • DID YOU FALL OR RISE FROM THE CLOUD OF UNKNOWING? by M. Ann Reed
        • THE PHILOSOPHER AND THE PORNQUEEN by Omar Sabbagh
        • KIGALI MEMORIAL by Carlos Andres Gomez
        • PANTOUM OF THE MEAT by Ouita Rogers
      • AZURE Volume 3, Issue 1 >
        • HOW TO WRITE A BIOGRAPHY by Joanne B. Mulcahy
        • PROTOCOL NINE-NINE-NINE-NINE by Kenneth Hanes
        • LESS' MORE by TWIXT
        • POINTLESS MR. PROBST by Beatriz Seelaender
    • ARCHIVES: VOLUME 2 >
      • AZURE Volume 2, Issue 4 >
        • SYLVAN PASSAGES by Dan Wood
        • SISTER ALONE by Janet M Powers
        • CENTURY 2.1 by Alan Flurry
        • CLAIMED BY THE SEA by Sam Reese
      • AZURE Volume 2, Issue 3 >
        • CROSSHATCHING by M.K. Rainey
        • LULLABY by Barbara Daddino
        • HOUSEMOUTH (and other poems) by Anhvu Buchanan and Brent Piller
        • THE RESIDUE IN PUBLIC TEA AND COFFEE CUPS by V.B. Borjen
        • SYZYGY (and other poems) by Malorie Seeley-Sherwood
      • AZURE Volume 2, Issue 2 >
        • DRAGONFLIES: A DISCOURSE ON ANXIETY by Lara Lillibridge
        • AND RICHARD BURBAGE ALSO HAD A SISTER by Freya Shipley
        • THE WATCHERS by M.K. Rainey
        • JAZZ INTERACTION WITH SYMBOLS by Sarah T.
        • SPIDER (and other poems) by Natalie Crick
      • AZURE Volume 2, Issue 1 >
        • ECHOES by Daniel Freeman
        • MAPS by Susan Brennan
        • EDGAR'S FATHER'S MAGIC WORDS by JWM Morgan
        • LOCKJAW: IN TWO ACTS by James Blevins
        • WHAT THE LIVING DO by Susan Wadds
    • Archives: Volume 1 >
      • AZURE Volume 1, Issue 10 >
        • SUSURROS DE RECURRENCIA by Franco Strong
        • THE OLD MAN by Sarah T.
        • PERMUTATIONS by Laura Cesarco Eglin
        • WORLD PEACE 3 by Gustavo Alberto Garcia Vaca
      • AZURE Volume 1, Issue 9 >
        • LITTLE GHOST by Danny Judge
        • THE LAST ALLUSIONIST by Sakina B. Fakhri
        • CHURCH by Diana McClure
      • AZURE Volume 1, Issue 8 >
        • DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS by Nancy Flynn
        • WHAT I COULDN'T SAY by Erika Ranee & Diana McClure
      • AZURE Volume 1, Issue 7 >
        • BRASS TYRANT AND THE AMERICAN THIRST by Kirk Marshall
        • LADY KILLER by Monika Viola
        • THE RIBBONS by Ferguson Williams
      • AZURE Volume 1, Issue 6 >
        • AURELIA: A BALLET IN PROSE (ACT 2 - Part 1) by Sakina B. Fakhri
        • NEW AGE UNCAGED by Frank Light
        • IMMIGRATION/INTEGRATION by Jaret Vadera & Diana McClure
      • AZURE Volume 1, Issue 5 >
        • THE TRIALS OF TOBIT by Joseph Lisowski
        • LIKE MANY GIANT FOOTPRINTS (and other poems) by William Doreski
        • AURELIA: A BALLET IN PROSE (ACT I) by Sakina B. Fakhri
      • AZURE Volume 1, Issue 4 >
        • WARDENCLIFF by Barbara Daddino
        • BETTER LIVING THROUGH CHEMISTRY by Reg Darling
        • AURELIA: A BALLET IN PROSE (LIBRETTO) by Sakina B. Fakhri
      • AZURE Volume 1, Issue 3 >
        • LAWTON, OKLAHOMA by Mark Lawley
        • TWEETY BIRD'S GRACE by Diana McClure
        • CONTAGION AND THE DINNER GUEST by Sakina B. Fakhri
        • ON POETRY AND PROSE by Sakina B. Fakhri
      • AZURE Volume 1, Issue 2 >
        • TWO MICE IN A BLACK BOX & THE DECONSTRUCTION OF LANGUAGE by Sakina B. Fakhri
      • AZURE Volume 1, Issue 1 >
        • CHARACTER SKETCHES by Diana McClure
        • SEASONS ON A GRAVESTONE by Sakina B. Fakhri
        • COCKTAIL PARTY by Diana McClure
        • DESUETUDE by Sakina B. Fakhri
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Lazuli Literary Courses

In pursuance of the interlocking functions of rigor & delight in the appreciation of the written word
Our Ethos: Public Intellectualism + Artistic Sensibility
Combining the ethos of public intellectualism and the artistic sensibility at the heart of Lazuli Literary Group, each of our sessions "reads" like a poem--with its own narrative and emotional arc--tickling the senses at just the right moments; the experiences are designed to be artistic, unexpected, and meaningful.​

We aim to divorce the intense, scholarly study of literature from its hefty price tag; the in-depth study of the craft and the poetics, the empathy and the lyricism, and the lively delight of words penned with deliberation and genius should be more readily available than it is. To that end, we offer learned literarians to lead you through literary landscapes in which they are well-traveled; to exhort you to look under that rock here, behind that tree there--to perhaps see something you might not otherwise have seen.

Resisting the academic tradition of approaching literature via dispassionate observation, we welcome the emotional depths such literature was written to stir (think of Beloved, or Moby Dick): to make us think things, realize things, feel things. We spend our time on laser-sharp close readings of passages and the linguistic complexities therein--the overwhelming flash of understanding that it is ONLY these exact conglomerations of words arranged in only this perfect congruity that could have made us feel precisely this.

Instead of pointing to names and theories with cold rationality, we will employ intellectualism towards the ends of promoting empathy and enriching emotions; we will indulge in the rapture, the tears, the humor, and the joy of literature.
A Nine-Part Series
​

​Virginia Woolf in Poetic Echoes

"Virginia Woolf in Poetic Echoes" is a nine-session series that moves chronologically through the novels of Virginia Woolf. Each discussion includes a presentation and analysis of supplementary excerpts--"echoes"--from works of poets & writers throughout history. Sign up for each session separately.
​

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PAST COURSES
  • The Voyage Out
  • Night and Day
  • Jacob's Room
  • Mrs. Dalloway
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Virginia Woolf in Poetic Echoes: The Voyage Out
​

We will discuss the genesis of Woolf's first novel,
The Voyage Out (1915), in relation to its arguably far more unbridled--more poetic, more scathing, more experimental--first draft: Melymbrosia, the unpublished novel written by the yet-unmarried Virginia Stephen. Did Woolf already achieve in Melymbrosia the experimentally lyrical technique (one that was "polished" out of her work for publishers of The Voyage Out) that she struggled for nearly half her life to recreate in The Waves? Why does The Voyage Out read, to some, as more muted and timid than the essays and personal letters that Woolf wrote at the very same time? Together, we will look at slashed semicolons; expunged boldnesses.


Readings

-Full novel: The Voyage Out by Virginia Woolf (any edition) - link to free public domain version online
-Full novel: Melymbrosia by Virginia Stephen/Woolf (compiled by Louise DeSalvo)

I highly recommend reading Melymbrosia (Virginia Woolf's "first novel", unpublished, later draft to be The Voyage Out) in addition to--or, if pressed for time, I dare say instead of--The Voyage Out. We will compare poetic choices in shorter corresponding passages (not attached) during our discussion; I have included a pdf of some of the larger-scale scene deletions below. (If you do decide to read only Melymbrosia, I suggest also reading Chapter 25 onward of The Voyage Out; the plot events of this portion are not explored in such sophisticated depth in her original draft).
​

Excerpts from Melymbrosia
  • Intro to Rachel & philosophical “tangents” on poetic/literary theory
  • Scenes of humor cut from final draft / opinions on male intellectualism & knowing Greek (yes, this is intentionally out of sequence in the pdf - I wanted to attach Rachel's introduction for you first, even though Woolf didn't do it that way!)
  • Rachel & Hewet meet / humor / interiority
  • Church scene
  • Scene b/w Helen & Rachel (cut entirely from final draft)

Essays by Woolf: To probe the relationship between musicality and verbal/literary expression that is set forth thematically in this novel and put into practice in later novels, we will look at Woolf's essays "Street Music", "On Not Knowing Greek", and others.
  • "Street Music" by Virginia Woolf (attached pdf)
  • "On Not Knowing Greek" by Virginia Woolf

Poems: In the church scene in Melymbrosia, Hirst is reading Sappho's "Ode to Aphrodite". In the corresponding scene in The Voyage Out, he claims that Swinburne's reflection on this poem is "the best thing that's ever been written." You may pair this with the church scene excerpt and the ultimately expurgated interaction between Helen & Rachel in the attached pdf.
  • "Ode to Aphrodite" by Sappho
  • "Sapphics" by Algernon Charles Swinburne
Virginia Woolf in Poetic Echoes: Night and Day

We will look at how Woolf evolves her language in
Night and Day (1919) to deal with the tension between the particular and the universal, between individuals and the crystalline network of Victorian/Eduardian "civilization" that binds them. Are her characters all but forced into flights of fancy, stream-of-consciousness prose, in moments when "realistic" civilization can no longer contain the narrative Woolf feels they merit? These scattered descents into daydreaming, to me, mark the beginning of the style that Woolf was to cultivate more fully in later novels--novels that would have, in her words, "no scaffolding; scarcely a brick to be seen; all crepuscular, but the heart, the passion, the humour, everything as bright as fire in the mist…." (1920). 


The supplementary texts from Aurora Leigh and The Wife of Sir Isaac Harman engage with Night and Day by sketching an outline--through poetry and prose, respectively--of how the convention of marriage interacts with a woman's ability to do the work of her choosing. We will be looking at the differing literary techniques used to handle characters who move "out of bounds"; this should, hopefully, allow us to recognize the brilliance of some of Woolf's choices.

In all sorts of fascinating ways, Night and Day feels both extremely regimented and entirely chaotic; of all of Woolf's novels, it seems to me that this one--though touted (or maligned!) for its "conventional" structure--could wrench its pages from its binding, toss them into an entropic flux, and have them land in an order that would, magically, appear equally conventional and chaotic. We will discuss why!


Readings​

It is, of course, encouraged that you read all of Night and Day and as much of the supplementary readings as you can. If time does not allow, however, here are some excerpts in order of priority (for our discussion):
  • If you read only one thing in preparation for the session (or if you are finding your reading of Night and Day unrewarding), please read the article "Virginia Woolf's Pivotal Sophomore Novel" by Lauren Groff in The Paris Review. I rarely assign literary criticism--only when it is meaningful and when it is lyrical, which this one is:  https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2019/07/09/virginia-woolfs-pivotal-sophomore-novel/
  • Night and Day (1919) by Virginia Woolf (full novel if you can, but key excerpts to pre-read attached in pdf; note that though we will be looking at individual sentences/paragraphs from throughout the book, the attached pdf is solely excerpted from the last two chapters)
  • Aurora Leigh (1856) by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (excerpts attached in pdf)
  • The Wife of Sir Isaac Harman (1914) by H.G. Wells (excerpts attached in pdf, mostly from Chapter 10)
Virginia Woolf in Poetic Echoes: Reading Jacob’s Room through a painter’s lens
​

In this session, we will discuss the poetic flowering of Virginia Woolf's experimental style in her third novel, Jacob's Room (1922). Following The Voyage Out and Night and Day--works consciously engaging with and visibly resisting Victorian styles of writing--Jacob's Room represents Woolf's unabashed break with accepted forms.

We will look at Jacob's Room in light of some of Woolf's own ideas about literary theory as expressed in her diary entries, essays, and letters. Salvador Dali's rollicking text 50 Secrets of Magic Craftsmanship will give us further inroads into the perceptual possibilities of Woolf's experimental novel. 

Reading

Please read Jacob's Room in its entirety (it is not too long--less than 200 pages) before the session; no supplementary pre-readings this time, so you can focus on the main work! In this case, I believe it is part of Woolf's daring accomplishment that she is able to sustain a full novel--and continue to call it a novel--in the style that she does.

  • Diaries (1920-1922) – V. Woolf
  • “Walter Sickert: A Conversation” (1934) – V. Woolf
  • “Pictures” (1925) – V. Woolf
  • 50 Secrets of Magic Craftsmanship – Salvador Dali
 
-Woolf’s literary approach: “No scaffolding…fire in the mist” [Diary]
-Reviews of Jacob’s Room
 
NARRATIVE GAZE
-Narrator
-Structure
            *Empty space
            *Spotlight
            *Snapshot narratives
            *Center
 
COLOR PALETTE
[“Sickert” essay]
 
“DROMEDARY OF IMAGES”
-Malleable images
-Repetition
 
THE “ALMOST-NOTHING”
Absence & Still-Life
 
EMOTION
 
PERSPECTIVE/DISTANCE
Letter-writing
 
“UNDERPAINTING” / TEMPORAL ASPECT
-Time lapse
-Interruptive timelines
-Lasting antiquity
 
TREATMENT OF SUBJECT / HUMOR
Compassionate satire
 
THE PATTERN BENEATH THE ABSTRACTION / “THE UNSEIZABLE FORCE”
-Society
-Complicity in war

Virginia Woolf in Poetic Echoes: Mrs. Dalloway

Instructor: Sakina B. Fakhri
​

Literary Focus

In Mrs. Dalloway, Woolf experiments with a structure as intransigent as the chiming of clocks over the course of a single day. “The design is so queer and so masterful,” Woolf notes in her diary, and “I’m always having to wrench my substance to fit it.” Quite a departure from Jacob’s Room, indeed, in which the substance itself leads, blooming into a structure at once unexpected and organic!

We will explore the forbidding coldness (or “stiff, glittering and tinselly” quality, as Woolf puts it) of this design—of the novel itself & of the world therein. Our focus will be Woolf’s wielding of literary “madness”; a thing distinct from its psychological implications, this phenomenon will be handled as a character’s descent (ascent?) into a system of functioning that is inconsistent with the restrictive—sometimes inhuman, often hypocritical, always limiting—offerings of society.

The passages I have selected reflect these flights of “madness”—and these, to me, are the most interesting parts: syntactically, a poetic letting-loose—the moments in which characters delve into the fluidity beneath the inexorable structure proclaimed by the chiming of the bells. In the post-war, post-pandemic, imperialist atmosphere of 1923, how does the entrance of death “in the middle of my party” allow lyricism, deflect structure? With what literary tools does Woolf rend the veil that upholds surface distinctions involving time, age, illness, political benevolence, gender, and domesticity? Are only the “mad” in this book allowed poetry?

Reading

Required
-Excerpts from Mrs. Dalloway (in class pdf)

Strongly recommended
-Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf [novel]

Additional
-"Fear no more the heat o' the sun" from Cymbeline - William Shakespeare [poem]
-“Ode on a Grecian Urn” - John Keats [poem]
-“Ode to a Nightingale” - John Keats [poem]
-“Tradition and the Individual Talent” - T. S. Eliot [essay]

Artistic Presentation

The artistic tie-in—which will remain largely a surprise—will weave together Woolf’s diary entries, relevant letters, and portions of Rachel Carson’s poetic masterpiece of marine biology The Sea Around Us. [So many (gorgeous) renditions of Mrs. Dalloway have focused on the bells and the music—I wanted to offer something a bit different!]

Studies in literary form and structure
​

The Writerly Mind
​

These courses will focus on close readings of passages to illuminate the effects of various formal elements on artistic expression. We are interested less in historicity and literary theory than we are in the vibrancy contained within the final product--we will analyze every swing and curl of the prose or poetry and explore the effects of those techniques on the reader's ready palate. 
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  • Forster's Aspects of the Novel
  • Serialization in Dickens, Buffy, Barber, and Joyce
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Forster's Aspects of the Novel

Instructor: Sakina B. Fakhri
​
A study of the evolution and the nuances of the novel form via E.M. Forster’s Aspects of the Novel.

I have chosen this text because I find its treatment of the novel to be delivered in beautiful prose: phrases like “... little luminous disks of a pre-arranged size, pushed hither and thither like counters across the void...” to describe the function of flat characters in a novel, for instance.

In-depth discussion will focus on a selection of E.M. Forster’s analyses in Aspects of the Novel as well as excerpts from Edwardian, Victorian, and Modernist novels (significantly, these excerpts will not include Forster’s own fiction, nor will they overlap with the excerpts Forster himself provides). Our aim is not necessarily to revere Forster’s recommendations of novelists’ practices; in my opinion, there is perhaps no literary dogma more delightful than the breaking of expected patterns with near-surgical precision & intelligence to meaningful & beautiful ends. We will read Forster’s work as a seedbed for stimulating thought; hopefully, from the progression of our discussion will emerge a satisfying brilliance.

This class may primarily appeal to writers of literary fiction, screenwriters, literary theorists, and readers of dense & lyrical fiction.

Reading
  • Aspects of the Novel by E.M. Forster
  • *Additional reading will be shared with participants via pdf

Time commitment
Ultimately, the time you spend in preparation for the session is up to you–all of our classes are designed to be meaningful experiences for those who have done all the reading, a suggested 2-3 hours of reading, or no reading at all; we will re-read key excerpts during the session itself to give all participants sufficient fodder for discussion. 
Serialization in Dickens, Buffy, Barber, and Joyce

Instructor: Sakina B. Fakhri

By delving into a variety of artistic forms (literature, classical music, and television), we will consider the ramifications of the early Victorian practice of publishing novels as serials.


How–if at all–does the potential of audience intervention affect the artistic mind? What literary techniques did the Victorians employ to hold their plots at the edges of cliffs, the ending of one chapter simultaneously ready for conclusion or renewal of the next? What stylistic aspects of Modernist fiction may be attributable to a newfound assurance that novels would be entertained as cohesive wholes, possibly “binge-read” in a single sitting? We will also consider the economic web that ensnares the serialized work–for better or worse–and how bending to these “current” considerations may (or may not!) affect the timelessness of such pieces. To what extent does an artist adjust to a readership, a television show to its fans, a musical score to its patrons? We will discuss the boldness of writing that refused to adjust–that which is styled with a patience that assumes that one will be given the chance to complete one’s story. 

  • Samuel Barber’s Violin Concerto, Op. 14 (1939) [music]
  • Excerpts from James Joyce’s Ulysses [fiction]
  • Excerpts from Charles Dickens’s Bleak House and David Copperfield [fiction]
  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer [television show]
    ​
We will look briefly at the musical and television corollaries and then will focus our time on a rigorous literary analysis of specific passages from our chosen literary works, parsing out the places where a serialized mindset is or is not evident. Though there is a great deal of information to be conveyed–and indeed I will convey it–this is NOT a lecture seminar; the session will be delivered in a discussion-based, communal, inviting scholarly format–the intellectual product will be what emerges from the group’s collective insights, and I truly look forward to hearing people’s thoughts!

Obviously, there is no expectation that you imbibe these works in their entirety before our discussion! I will provide a pdf of suggested reading/watching/listening that should span 2-4 hours, and we will look at focused excerpts during the session itself; even if you aren’t able to do any preparation, the session should run smoothly and there will be a great deal to discuss. 

You do not need any familiarity with the above works to enjoy this session.

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  • ABOUT
    • Our Literary Aesthetic
    • Staff >
      • Writings by Sakina B. Fakhri
    • Contact Us
    • SUBSCRIBE
  • CONTESTS
  • AZURE: A Journal of Literary Thought
    • AZURE Volume 8 >
      • ALMOST STALE by Nathaniel Calhoun
      • CUCUMBER SALAD by Michael Pearce
      • PRACTICAL MEDICAL ADVICE FOR FEMALE SUBJECTS OF THE CAPE COLONY by Karen Jennings
      • PLAN B and others by M.B. McLatchey
      • IDIOSYNCRATIC ICONS: A MANIFESTO by Richard Collins
      • THE DARDANELLES (HERO AND LEANDER AT 60) by Greg Sendi
      • AN APPRECIATION OF THE SCHOLAR, ADALBERT by Vincent Mannings
      • ONE PARTING, YIELDING LINE by M. Ann Reed
      • THE RIVER FISHER'S DAUGHTER by Kirk Marshall
      • BEYOND THE GREAT HORIZON WALL by Kenny Kuhn
      • BLOOM by Michael Gessner
      • SOMETHING, I KNOW NOT WHAT by Ray Corvi
      • OF BUTLERS AND SPIES by Austin Barnes
      • WHAT THE FIRST GOD SPOKE I THINK WAS SUN by Richard Hague
      • SEELENKNARREN by Lorenz Poeschl
    • AZURE Volume 7, Issue 3 >
      • DECEMBER 25, 2022 by Aletha Irby
      • A SUMMARY OF 'A BRIEF HISTORY OF NASOCARPIA' by Peter Arscott
      • CARRYING CAPACITY by Charles Byrne
      • THE MUNE MONOLOGUES by Thomas Townsley
    • AZURE Volume 7, Issue 2 >
      • VARIATION ON A THEME & POSE POEM by Norman Minnick
      • THE MAP OF YOUR HANDS UNFOLDS A DOVE by Vikki C.
      • HISTORIES OF THE BEARD by Richard Hague
      • ILLUSTRATED COMMENTS ON THE APOPHATAPATAPHYSICAL METRICS OF COSMIC HUMOR by edo strannikov
    • AZURE Volume 7, Issue 1 >
      • ORANGES by John Moody
      • THE LACONIA by Wendy Webb
      • BREATH OF THE TEXT by Jeremiah Cassar Scalia
    • AZURE Volume 6, Issue 4 >
      • TO THOSE FOUND DEAD IN CHIMNEYS by R.W. Plym
      • WHAT TO EXPECT OF LIFE by Steven G. Kellman
      • IF IT WERE DRAWN by Jessica Reed
      • BLOOD IN THE ORCHIDS by Amanda Kotch
      • CORNELIUS RADHOPPER by Peter Arscott
    • AZURE Volume 6, Issue 3 >
      • ANIMAL INHERITANCE by akhir ali
      • THAT DUDE DERRIDA by Daniel Klawitter
      • FLAT-EARTH FRED by Phil Gallos
      • THE MYSTERY OF THE MISSING SEMICOLON by Orana Loren
      • MY BALDERDASHERY by Eric Paul Shaffer
    • AZURE Volume 6, Issue 2 >
      • MIRROR by Joshua Kepfer
      • CUE FALLING PIANO by D.C. Weaver
      • ANTON AND THE ECHO by Cristina Otero
      • THAT WHICH WE TRULY DON'T KNOW by JOACHIM GLAGE
      • CONGRATULATIONS by Alan Sincic
    • AZURE Volume 6, Issue 1 >
      • NEVER, NEVER LAND, MY SHIP by Mark Pearce
      • THE SMILE OF MONA LISA by Fatima Ijaz
      • OUROBOROS by Esme Sammons
      • THE DEPTHS OF THE SEA by Margaret D. Stetz
      • SNICKER-SNACK by Bruce Meyer
    • AZURE Volume 5, Issue 4 >
      • THE OWLET AND THE TURTLE by Greg Sendi
      • BRACTS and other poems by Nathaniel Calhoun
      • ANSWERS TO NON-EXISTENT QUESTIONS and other poems by Kevin Griffith
      • NEVERENDING KNOT by Jodie Dalgleish
      • LEARNING TO WALK by Jodie Dalgleish
      • OVERSOUL by P.S. Lutz
    • AZURE Volume 5, Issue 3 >
      • MAP OF MEMORY by Jesse Schotter
      • BISMILLAH by Abby Minor
      • MICROMORTS by Veronica Tang
      • LOVE LETTER TO LANGUAGE: AN ABECEDARIAN by Saramanda Swigart
      • IF YOU WERE ALL WATER by M. Ann Reed
    • AZURE Volume 5, Issue 2 >
      • CONTRA FORMALISME by Leland Seese
      • DRUNKEN MAN ON A BICYCLE by Dan Butterworth
      • WOLF TICKETS THROUGH THE FERAL WINTER by Kirk Marshall
      • SYLVANUS, BARD by Marc Lerner
      • THE LOOKING GLASS OF ARTHUR GORDON PYM by Frank Meola
    • AZURE Volume 5, Issue 1 >
      • INTIMATE THINGS by Laylage Courie
      • A SERIES OF PUNCTUATION by Hajar Hussaini
      • ROT AND GLORIANA by Laurel Miram
      • BLUES ON RED by Elie Doubleday
      • MY FICTION: REMEMBERING 50 YEARS OF WORK by Richard Kostelanetz
    • AZURE Volume 4, Issue 4 >
      • ENDNOTES FOR AN ALLOCUTION by Peter Freund
      • UKEMI (and other poems) by Nicole Vento
      • MEMORANDUM ON DESIRE by Laylage Courie
      • THE HOLYWOOD DEUTERONOMY by Jim Shankman
      • AT THE MAD HATTER-MARCH HARE ART GALLERY (and other poems) by M. Ann Reed
    • AZURE Volume 4, Issue 3 >
      • THE MACHINE, STOLEN FIRE, and PERFORMANCE by Vivek Narayan
      • FIRST FRUITS by Stephen Massimilla
      • ONCE UPON A TOMORROW-TIME by Christopher Routheut
      • YIELD LIGHT OF WAY by Ken Goodman
      • SEVEN TALES by Sara Streett
    • AZURE Volume 4, Issue 2 >
      • THE PUNCH-CARD CIPHERS by DF Short
      • SHE WAS THE FIRST TO GIVE A TOAST by Kelli Russell Agodon
      • HABLU L-WARIDI by Jesse Hilson
      • THE KEY TO DREAMS by Sean S. Bentley
      • SOFA, SO GOOD, SORT OF by Remy Ngamije
    • AZURE Volume 4, Issue 1 >
      • STAMPING THE DEAD by Habib Mohana
      • LEGS by A. Joachim Glage
      • I THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX by Heikki Huotari
      • LUŽÁNKY by V.B. Borjen
    • ARCHIVES: VOLUME 3 >
      • AZURE Volume 3, Issue 4 >
        • TALES UNSUITABLE FOR CHILDREN by Devon Ortega
        • WAKE UP by JayJay Conrad
        • AMONG THE MEN IS APRIL by Logo Wei
        • SWEET by Melinda Giordano
        • BLACK ROSES by Osamase Ekhator
        • MEET ME TONIGHT ON METAPHOR STREET by Vivek Narayan
      • AZURE Volume 3, Issue 3 >
        • MENAGE A TROIS, WITH HORSE by Don Dussault
        • THE BLACK by Ben Colandrea
        • BLUE SKY LANGUAGE by Christien Gholson
        • UN DETECTIVE VIEJO by Franco Strong
      • AZURE Volume 3, Issue 2 >
        • THE CLEANSING by Linda Dennard
        • SHUFFLE by Debbie Fox
        • DID YOU FALL OR RISE FROM THE CLOUD OF UNKNOWING? by M. Ann Reed
        • THE PHILOSOPHER AND THE PORNQUEEN by Omar Sabbagh
        • KIGALI MEMORIAL by Carlos Andres Gomez
        • PANTOUM OF THE MEAT by Ouita Rogers
      • AZURE Volume 3, Issue 1 >
        • HOW TO WRITE A BIOGRAPHY by Joanne B. Mulcahy
        • PROTOCOL NINE-NINE-NINE-NINE by Kenneth Hanes
        • LESS' MORE by TWIXT
        • POINTLESS MR. PROBST by Beatriz Seelaender
    • ARCHIVES: VOLUME 2 >
      • AZURE Volume 2, Issue 4 >
        • SYLVAN PASSAGES by Dan Wood
        • SISTER ALONE by Janet M Powers
        • CENTURY 2.1 by Alan Flurry
        • CLAIMED BY THE SEA by Sam Reese
      • AZURE Volume 2, Issue 3 >
        • CROSSHATCHING by M.K. Rainey
        • LULLABY by Barbara Daddino
        • HOUSEMOUTH (and other poems) by Anhvu Buchanan and Brent Piller
        • THE RESIDUE IN PUBLIC TEA AND COFFEE CUPS by V.B. Borjen
        • SYZYGY (and other poems) by Malorie Seeley-Sherwood
      • AZURE Volume 2, Issue 2 >
        • DRAGONFLIES: A DISCOURSE ON ANXIETY by Lara Lillibridge
        • AND RICHARD BURBAGE ALSO HAD A SISTER by Freya Shipley
        • THE WATCHERS by M.K. Rainey
        • JAZZ INTERACTION WITH SYMBOLS by Sarah T.
        • SPIDER (and other poems) by Natalie Crick
      • AZURE Volume 2, Issue 1 >
        • ECHOES by Daniel Freeman
        • MAPS by Susan Brennan
        • EDGAR'S FATHER'S MAGIC WORDS by JWM Morgan
        • LOCKJAW: IN TWO ACTS by James Blevins
        • WHAT THE LIVING DO by Susan Wadds
    • Archives: Volume 1 >
      • AZURE Volume 1, Issue 10 >
        • SUSURROS DE RECURRENCIA by Franco Strong
        • THE OLD MAN by Sarah T.
        • PERMUTATIONS by Laura Cesarco Eglin
        • WORLD PEACE 3 by Gustavo Alberto Garcia Vaca
      • AZURE Volume 1, Issue 9 >
        • LITTLE GHOST by Danny Judge
        • THE LAST ALLUSIONIST by Sakina B. Fakhri
        • CHURCH by Diana McClure
      • AZURE Volume 1, Issue 8 >
        • DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS by Nancy Flynn
        • WHAT I COULDN'T SAY by Erika Ranee & Diana McClure
      • AZURE Volume 1, Issue 7 >
        • BRASS TYRANT AND THE AMERICAN THIRST by Kirk Marshall
        • LADY KILLER by Monika Viola
        • THE RIBBONS by Ferguson Williams
      • AZURE Volume 1, Issue 6 >
        • AURELIA: A BALLET IN PROSE (ACT 2 - Part 1) by Sakina B. Fakhri
        • NEW AGE UNCAGED by Frank Light
        • IMMIGRATION/INTEGRATION by Jaret Vadera & Diana McClure
      • AZURE Volume 1, Issue 5 >
        • THE TRIALS OF TOBIT by Joseph Lisowski
        • LIKE MANY GIANT FOOTPRINTS (and other poems) by William Doreski
        • AURELIA: A BALLET IN PROSE (ACT I) by Sakina B. Fakhri
      • AZURE Volume 1, Issue 4 >
        • WARDENCLIFF by Barbara Daddino
        • BETTER LIVING THROUGH CHEMISTRY by Reg Darling
        • AURELIA: A BALLET IN PROSE (LIBRETTO) by Sakina B. Fakhri
      • AZURE Volume 1, Issue 3 >
        • LAWTON, OKLAHOMA by Mark Lawley
        • TWEETY BIRD'S GRACE by Diana McClure
        • CONTAGION AND THE DINNER GUEST by Sakina B. Fakhri
        • ON POETRY AND PROSE by Sakina B. Fakhri
      • AZURE Volume 1, Issue 2 >
        • TWO MICE IN A BLACK BOX & THE DECONSTRUCTION OF LANGUAGE by Sakina B. Fakhri
      • AZURE Volume 1, Issue 1 >
        • CHARACTER SKETCHES by Diana McClure
        • SEASONS ON A GRAVESTONE by Sakina B. Fakhri
        • COCKTAIL PARTY by Diana McClure
        • DESUETUDE by Sakina B. Fakhri
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