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The Contemporary Essay

Organisers: Dr Lola Boorman, Ella Barker, Bryony Aitchison, Dr Alexandra Kingston-Reese (Department of English and Related Literature)

In 2017 contemporary essayist Jia Tolentino proclaimed the “personal essay boom” in American literary culture over. But while the essay has seemed ubiquitous in contemporary American literary culture, its status as a major form has remained largely unexplored. While “the essay” may be familiar to readers of The Atlantic or the New Yorker, pinning down what its formal characteristics are—beyond its formal malleability—presents a serious critical challenge.

The Contemporary Essay seeks to address the critical vacuum in the study of the essay and its problems of aesthetic categorisation. What happens when we look at the essay historically? Or try to situate it within national literary traditions? Are the parameters of the personal essay at odds with its political valence in today’s literary landscape? How do contemporary essayists, such as Emilie Pine and Leslie Jamison, reshape a longstanding tradition of cultural criticism in the “program era”? The objectives of this strand are twofold: to stabilise an emergent field and to establish an international, interdisciplinary, and cross-period network of scholars.

If you are interested in joining our network or our programme of events please sign up to our mailing list here and check out our website.

Essayisms Reading Group

The Contemporary’s Essay’s reading group ‘Essayisms’ meets four times per term on Monday evenings at 5pm via Zoom. For each session we will choose an overarching theme and discuss a selection of essays related to this period or subject. We will pay careful attention to how we can historicize the essay or root it in a particular political, institutional or (trans)national culture as well as working together to generate a critical and aesthetic vocabulary for this elusive literary form. For further information or for access to the readings please contact either Ella Barker (efhb500@york.ac.uk) or Bryony Aitchison (ba722@york.ac.uk).

Forthcoming Events:

Essayisms Reading Group: Queer Kinship and Collective Essay Writing

Previous Events

Monday 12 October 2020: Black History Month: Essayisms Reading Group

Monday 26 October 2020: The Transatlantic Lecture Tour: Essayisms Reading Group