Essayisms Reading Group: The Art Essay

Monday 22 February 2021, 5.00PM

What do we call a particular kind of essay that holds other forms to account? It is not lyrical, personal, nor is it technically the function of the essay writ large. A forthcoming volume of essays, edited by York’s Alexandra Kingston-Reese, calls this the art essay, a genre around which all other forms constellate. This week, we are reading a selection of essays written by contemporary novelists on art.

The following essays are all available online and pdf versions are included in the Essayisms Google Drive:

Teju Cole, “In Dark Times I Sought Out the Turmoil of Caravaggio’s Paintings”: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/23/magazine/caravaggio.html
Valeria Luiselli, “Things As They Are”: https://www.nybooks.com/ articles / 2020/11/19 / dorothea- lange-things-as-they-are /
Zadie Smith, “The Imaginary Portrait of Lynette-Yiadom Boakye”: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/06/19/lynette-yiadom-boakyes-imaginary-portraits

This reading group is part of the CModS research strand ’The Contemporary Essay’.

All are welcome! Please contact Dr Alexandra Kingston-Reese (alexandra.kingston-reese@york.ac.uk) for access to readings or any questions about getting involved.

Please register your attendance via this link.

Location: Online via Zoom

Email: alexandra.kingston-reese@york.ac.uk