American Modernism: Poetry of T.S. Eliot

Please join for a series of six discussions focusing on the poetic work of T.S Eliot, the leading Modernist poet, playwright, editor, and literary critic.

Eliot exercised a very strong influence on Anglo-American culture from the 1920s until late in the century and continues to be highly valued today. His diction, style, and versification experiments revitalized English poetry, and in a series of critical essays, he shattered old orthodoxies and erected new ones. In 1948, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature.

We are going to live read through Eliot’s most groundbreaking works starting with his early "The Love Song of Alfred J. Prufrock," "The Waste Land," and finally the entirety of "The Four Quartets"—the crowning achievement of Eliot’s poetic opus. We will discuss all poems during each of the six sessions, each devoted to one specific work by Eliot.

Previous knowledge of Eliot’s poetry is not necessary, but helpful as we deep dive into the intricacies of the Modernist movement as well as Eliot’s poetic compositions and writing style.