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Bennington College History: Literature: 1970s Literature Readings and Lectures

A guide to the history of literature at Bennington College

1970s Literature Readings and Lectures

1970

  • Robert Creeley. Booth Living Room. Poetry Reading. (1970-06-02) College Week
  • Nicholas Delbanco, Michael Dennis Browne, and Peter Wilson. "England Our England a light-hearted anthology of the English characters performed." Carriage Barn. (1970-06-04) College Week
  • Kurt Vonnegut. Commencement Speech. Commons Lawn. (1970-06-19) Quadrille, Vol IV, No 4 article "Vonnegut at Bennington: Skylarking and Socialism" (includes excerpts of the speech) |1970 Commencement Program | Memo to Seniors | Speech | Literary Bennington article
  • College Community Memorial Service for Stanley Edgar Hyman. Carriage Barn. (1970-08-01) Obituary 
  • Adrian Mitchell. Poetry reading. Carriage Barn. (1970-10-14) Quadrille vol 5 n 1
  • Alan Cheuse. The relationship of the artist and and society in modern Cuba and in particular Alejo Carpentier (1970-10-20) Quadrille, Vol 5, No 1 
  • Michael Dennis Browne, Scott Hewitt, and Steven Schrader. Poetry reading. (1970-10-26) Quadrille, Vol 5, No 1 
  • David P. McAllester. "Indian Literature: A Living Tradition" (1970-11-23) Quadrille vol 5 n 2
  • Russell Banks and Matthew Williams. Poetry reading. Booth House. (1970-12-11) Quadrille vol 5 n 2
  • An Evening of Christmas Music and Literature. Faculty members Michael Dennis Browne and Peter Wilson read from Dylan Thomas and Charles Dickens. Carriage Barn. (1970-12-15)

1971

  • Stanley Eskin. "Seriousness: A Literary Anxiety" Carriage Barn Lounge. (1971-04-21) Quadrille vol 5 n 3
  • Ben Belitt. "The Sound Sense," a reading and commentary of his recent poetry. Carriage Barn Lounge. (1971-10-10) Quadrille, Vol 5, No 4
  • John Seelye. "The Hobbit Habit: Tripping Along with Kesey, Brautigan, and Segal." (1971-10-13) Quadrille, Vol 5, No 4
  • Howard Nemerov "What Was Modern Poetry" Alumni Reunion Weekend. (1971-10-22) Quadrille vol 5 n 3
  • Ben Belitt "Fiction and Enigma: Some Parables of Kafka" Alumni Reunion Weekend. (1971-10-22) Quadrille vol 5 n 3
  • Bernard Malamud. Short Story Discussion. Alumni Reunion Weekend. (1971-05-22) Quadrille vol 5 n 3
  • Howard Nemerov, Ben Belitt, a student, and Barbara Howes '37. Poetry reading.  Alumni Reunion Weekend. (1971-05-23) Quadrille vol 5 n 3
  • Anaïs Nin. Commencement Speech. (1971-06-18) Quadrille, Vol 5, No 4 article "Equalizing the Pressures from Without" includes excerpts of the speech | Correspondence | Correspondence | Article 
  • Nicholas Delbanco. Reading from In the Middle Distance. Carriage Barn. (1971-09-22) Quadrille vol 6  n 1
  • Bernard Malamud. Reading. Carriage Barn. (1971-09-30) Quadrille vol 6  n 1
  • Emir Rodríguez Monegal. "Borges, the Reader as Writer" Carriage Barn. (1971-10-07) Quadrille vol 6  n 1
  • W.S. Merwin. Reading. Barn Studio Theater (1971-10-12) Quadrille vol 6  n 1
  • Keorapetse Kgositsile, Caleen Sinnette, Jo Bracey, Margaret Holloway and "the Richard Orange poets". Poetry reading. Part of a week long event, "Third World Perspectives: Cultural and Political Expressions" organized by the Black Student Union (1971-11) Quadrille vol 6  n 1
  • William A. Gass. "Groping for Trouts" (1971-11-17) Quadrille vol 6 n 2
  • Richard Tristman. "The Authority of the Word: Toward a Theory of Publics and Publications". Carriage Barn (1971-12-06) Quadrille vol 6 n 2

1972

  • Martin Horwitz. "The Enigmatic Jewish Consciousness of Isaac Babel" Barn 1 (1972-03-15) Quadrille vol 6 n 3
  • George Saito. "Japanese Poetry - A Glimpse" (1972-03-29) Quadrille vol 6 n 3
  • Students Harold Davis, Mary Ruefle, Ted Mooney, and Sharon van Bruns, in Nicholas Delbanco's Prose Fiction Workshop, read from works in progress. Barn 1 (1972-04-05) Quadrille vol 6 n 3
  • Nicholas Delbanco. Reading from forthcoming new book "Time's Fool" (1972-09-02) Quadrille  vol. 7 n. 1 | College Week
  • Bernard Malamud. Reading short stories from a forthcoming new book. (1972-10-05) Quadrille  vol. 7 n. 1
  • Lucien Stryk. "Zen Poetry" Usdan Gallery. (1972-10-17) Quadrille  vol. 7 n. 1
  • John Ashberry. (date not listed but was after Stryk and before Wofford) Report of the Speaker's Committee of the Literature Division (1972-fall)
  • Phillip Wofford of the Art Divsion read "Grand Canyon Search Ceremony" a newly published book length poem. Tishman (1972-11-16) Quadrille Vol 7 no 2
  • David Wolfe. Mallarme and his ideas of poetic creation. Barn 1. (1972-11-21) Quadrille Vol 7 no 2
  • Alison Pearlstein presented a dance interpretation of the poem Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird. Mary Ruefle gave the reading which accompanied her dance. (1972-11-20) Quadrille Vol 7 no 2 p. 60
  • Student poetry works in progress. Jim Bloom, Michael Gottlieb, Michael Lehrer, and Mara Purl. Barn 1. (1973-11-27) Quadrille Vol 7 no 2
  • Camille Paglia. Read from her works in progress, "The Androgyny of Artemis", "Athena", "The Amazon and Lana Cantrell" in Barn 1. (1972-11-30)  "I read excerpts from my then-in-process Yale dissertation, "Sexual Personae:  Categories of the Androgyne", ending with a free-standing Barthes-type encomiastic mini-essay about a photo of Australian singer Lana Cantrell, which I had had blown up large (in black and white) and pasted to a cardboard poster, propped on the chalk tray of the blackboard." (Source: email from Camille Paglia to Crossett librarian Jared Della Rocca 7-29-2019) | Quadrille Vol 7 no 2
  • Geoffrey Movius. Reading new poems. Booth Living Room. (1973-12-01)  Quadrille Vol 7 no 2
  • Ishmael Reed. Reading from his new book of poetry and works in progress. Barn 1. (1973-12-08) Quadrille Vol 7 no 2
  • Gail Parker. "William Dean Howells: Realism and Feminism" (1973-12-11) Quadrille Vol 7 no 2

1973

  • Joseph Frank. A Seminar on Dostoevsky. Barn 82 (1973-03-23) poster
  • Stephen Sandy. Reading from his books, Roofs and Stresses in the Peaceable Kingdom and several unpublished poems. (1973-03-15) Quadrille, Vol 7, No 3/4
  • Richard Tristman. Reading. (1973-03-22) Report of the Speaker's Committee of the Literature Division (Fall 1972)
  • Tom Smith. Reading. (1973-03-29) Report of the Speaker's Committee of the Literature Division (Fall 1972)
  • Howard Nemerov. Reading. (1973-04-11) Report of the Speaker's Committee of the Literature Division (Fall 1972)
  • Lore Segal. Reading selections from her prose works-in-progress. (1973-04-19) Quadrille, Vol 7, No 3/4
  • Ben Belitt and Eduardo Gonzalez. A bilingual reading of the Rafael Alberti poem "A la Pintura," Usdan Gallery. (1973-05-01) Quadrille, Vol 7, No 3/4
  • Student Reading. Richard Rotman, Mary Ruefle, Ted Mooney, and Henry Dunow read their prose and Christina Rago and Sharon Von Bruns read poetry. Barn 1. (973-05-15&16) Quadrille, Vol 7, No 3/4
  • Student Reading. Mark Merenda and Tom Cartelli. (1973-05)-(22?) Quadrille, Vol 7, No 3/4
  • Student Reading. Steven Cartwright, Michael Gottlieb, Michael Lehrer, and George Pitts read their poetry. Crossett Library Garden. (1973-05-31) Quadrille, Vol 7, No 3/4
  •  Women's Film Festival. The festival organized by Camille Paglia, Gail Parker, and Sarah Rodman. (1973-06) Quadrille, Vol 7, No 3/4
  • Bruce St. John. Reading from his poetry. Carriage Barn. (1973-09-20) poster
  • Victor Perera. Reading. Welling Living Room. (1973-10-02) poster
  • Susan Sontag. Carriage Barn (1973-10-04) Paglia letter about Sontag visit | Photographs of Susan Sontag |Photograph of Camille Paglia and Susan Sontag | Photograph of Bernard Malamud 
  • Richard Polrier. Lecture "Sound and Sexuality in Robert Frost." Barn 1. (1973-11-08) College Week
  • Ted Joans, Reading. Tishman. (1973-11-09) Announcing Ted Joans, jazz poet, a painter, musician, as a visiting Hadley Fellow in Black Music | Announcement of reading

1974

  • The Drama Division Presents Joanna Featherstone in a one-woman show of Afro-American poetry (1974-05-16) announcement
  • Phebe Chao, Nicholas Delbanco. Readings at Alumni Reunion Weekend. (1974-05-18) Quadrille vol 8 n 2
  • Reader's Theatre "Naked Lunch" adapted by Jean Pochna from William S. Burrough's book. Tishman (1974-06-10) College Week
  • Senior Concert and Senior Thesis Readings. Carriage Barn. (1974-06-14) Program
    • Hardy Kornfeld reading from thesis "Life Versus Entropy: A Hall Manifesto"
    • Rachel Michaud reading poems from creative thesis "Blood Cider"
    • Douglas Cumming reading from thesis "The Moral Attention of Frost's Poetics" 
  • Linda Bradley Salamon "Orchestration of Burnt Norton II" Barn 1. (1974-09-26)  Quadrille, Vol 9, No 2
  • Ralph Ellison. Inaugural lecture of the memorial Stanley Edgar Hyman lecture series. (1974-10-03) Audio | Quadrille vol 9 n 1
  • Jay Wright. Reading from his own work. Barn 1. (1974-10-10) Quadrille, Vol 9, No 2 | poster
  • Alan Cheuse. Reading his paper "The Beholder's Eye: Reader's Vision in 'The Sound and the Fury,"' (1974-10-22) Quadrille, Vol 9, No 2
  • Grace Paley. Read from her work and discussed her recent visits to China and Chile. (1974-10-31) Quadrille, Vol 9, No 2
  • Milton Kessler. Reading from his poetry. (1974-11-7) Quadrille, Vol 9, No 2
  • Reinhard Mayer. "Franz Kafka's Language: Investigations of a Dogged Reader'' (1974-11-21) Quadrille, Vol 9, No 2
  • Robert Boyers. "Saul Bellow: Nature and Reality in Mr. Sammler's Planet" (1974-12-05) Quadrille, Vol 9, No 2
  • Senior Thesis Readings by Carl Navarre, Charlotte Melin and Jamie Leefelodt (1974-12-10) Quadrille, Vol 9, No 2
  • A literature workshop with Michael Pollan, a sophomore in the Literature Division, reading a paper entitled "The Style of Homeric Greek Religion" Sponsored by the Literature and Languages Division. Bingham living room. (1974-12-10) Quadrille, Vol 9, No 2 | poster

1975

  • Bernard Malamud. Reading from his work. Sponsored by the Literature and Languages Division. VAPA painting studio. (1975-06-05) poster
  • Nicholas Delbanco. Reading. (1975-10-09) Minutes of the Literature and Languages Division Meeting, September 18, 1975
  • Bill Alfred.  (1975-11-06) Minutes of the Literature and Languages Division Meeting, September 18, 1975
  • John Updike (1975-11-13) Minutes of the Literature and Languages Division Meeting, September 18, 1975
  • Robert Mezey (1975, Fall term, after October 16) Minutes of the Literature and Languages Division Meeting, October 16, 1975
  • Douglas Day. (1975, Fall term, after October 16) Minutes of the Literature and Languages Division Meeting, October 16, 1975
  • Peter Arnot. (1975, Fall term, after October 16) Minutes of the Literature and Languages Division Meeting, October 16, 1975

1976

  • Peter Beagle. (1976-04-22). Minutes of the Literature and Languages Division Meeting, March 25, 1976
  • Richard Tristman. (1976-04-27) Minutes of the Literature and Languages Division Meeting, March 25, 1976
  • Stephen Sandy. (1976-05-03) Minutes of the Literature and Languages Division Meeting, March 25, 1976
  • Student Senior Thesis Readings. (1976-05-10) Minutes of the Literature and Languages Division Meeting, March 25, 1976
  • Readings. VAPA Dedication.  Galleria. (1976-05-21) Quadrille vol. 10 no.4
  • Student Readings. Allison Booth, Liz Rosenberg, Gino Heiserman, Brant Houston, Paul Lazor, Tom Shandorf VAPA Dedication. Newman Court. (1976-05-21) Quadrille vol. 10 no.4
  • Kenneth Burke. Stanley Edgar Hyman memorial lecture. VAPA Dedication. (1976-05-21) Quadrille vol. 10 no.4 | photographs
  • Camille Paglia. "Image of the Androgyne" Usdan Gallery. (1976-09-21) Quadrille vol 11, no 1   "I read from several chapters in my ongoing expansion of my Yale dissertation on the image of the androgyne. I had received my Ph.D for the completed dissertation two years earlier and was working on the much larger manuscript that would eventually become Sexual Personae:  Art and Decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson...The lecture material was on Spenser's Faerie Queene, Yul Brynner, Gracie Allen, Diana Ross, and French film star Stéphane Audran. As Quadrille states, Don Raina (a Bennington facilities staff member) had kindly made color slides for me from publicity stills that someone had sent me from Paris.  Once again, the climax was provocative because Claude Chabrol's 1968 film Les Biches (starring his wife Audran) had a lesbian theme." (Source: email from Camille Paglia to Crossett librarian Jared Della Rocca 7-29-2019).
  • John Cheever. Reading from his fiction. Commons Theatre. (1976-10-14) Quadrille vol 11, no 1 | The New Paper Volume I Number II article "Riding Home with John Cheever" | poster
  • W. D. Snodgrass. Poetry Reading. Barn 1. (1976-11-11) announcement | poster
  • Robert Peters. Poetry reading. Bingham Living Room. (1976-11-15) Community Notice
  • Mark Strand. Poetry reading. (1976-11-04) Quadrille vol 11 n 2
  • Frederick Busch. Reading from work in progress. (1976-12-01) Quadrille vol 11 n 2
  • Peter Matthiessen "To Crystal Mountain" (1976-12-02) Quadrille vol 11 n 2

1977

  • Alan Cheuse. "The Gaucho and the Humble-Bee: Nature and Culture in the Nineteenth Century American Literary Imagination." (1977-03-24) Quadrille, Vol 11, No 3
  • Bernard Malamud. Reading from his new novel. (1977-04-09) Quadrille, Vol 11, No 3 | photographs
  • Geoffrey Hartman. "Wordsworth: A Psycho-esthetic Perspective." Stanley Edgar Hyman Memorial Lecture. (1977-05-03) Quadrille, Vol 11, No 3
  • Ronald Sukenick. The novelist  read from his work-in-progress in conjunction with Alan Cheuse's "Problematic Fictions" class and Nicholas Delbanco's "Strategies of Prose" workshop. (1977-05-11) Quadrille, Vol 11, No 3
  • Bennington Summer Workshops. Prose Fiction Writers' Workshop. Prose Writers' Workshop Brochure | Memo Graham / Delbanco
    • Richard Elma (1977-04-05)
    • Fred Busch (1977-04-07)
    • Hortense Calisher & Curtis Harnack  (1977-04-11)
    • Bernard Malamud (1977-04-14)
    • Stephen Becker (1977-04-18)
    • John Cheever (1977-04-21)
    • C. Lehmann-Haupt (1977-04-22)
    • James Landis & Susan Levine (1977-04-25)
  • Bernard Malamud. Meeting with students. Malamud's house. (1977-10-11) The New Paper Volume III Issue II
  • Edwin Honig. "The Poet's Other Voice" a lecture on translation. (1977-10-13) Quadrille vol 12 n1
  • Ben Belitt, Stephen Sandy, Georges Guys. Poetry Reading in French and English. Introduction by Phebe Chao. Reading was accompanied with a concert by baritone Richard Frisch and pianist Lionel Nowak. Carriage Barn. (1977-11-03) Quadrille vol 12 n1
  • Dimitri Panin. "The model for Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's novel The First Circle" appeared through the Literature and Language Division"...discussing "Religious Belief in Russia Today". (1977-11-14) Quadrille vol 12 n1
  • Guy P. Metraux. "Achilles and Socrates: Art and Literature in Archaic and Classical Greece" (1977-11-17) Quadrille vol 12 n1 | poster
  • Ben Belitt. "Neruda's Memoirs: A Reading from Homer" Carriage Barn (1977-12-01) Quadrille vol 12 n1 | poster

1978

  • Lawrence Raab. Poetry reading. (1978-03-16) Quadrille vol 12 n 1
  • John Engles. Reading from his own work. Barn 1. (1978-04-13) Quadrille vol 12 n 1 | poster
  • Norman Thomas di Giovanni. "Self and Selves: The Fiction of Jorge Luis Borges" Barn 1.  (1978-04-20) Quadrille vol 12 n 1 | poster
  • Elizabeth Bishop. Reading from her own work. The Stanley Edgar Hyman Memorial Lecture. (1978-05-04) Quadrille vol 12 n 1
  • Hortense Calisher. Reading from her own work. Barn 1 (1978-05-11) Quadrille vol 12 n 1 | poster
  • Harry Matthews. Reading from his own work. (1978-05-18) Quadrille vol 12 n 1
  • Reading of Prose Fiction Theses by Katharine Claman, Judith Hoover, Joe Kaufman, Tam Stewart. Sponsored by the Literature and Languages Division. Barn Studio Theatre. (1978-06-08) poster
  • Mitchell Markowitz '75, screenwriter. (1978-06-16) Program 
  • Bennington Workshops. (June 26 - July 23 1978) Quadrille vol 12 n 1, Quadrille vol 12 n 2 
    • Poetry Workshop taught by Steven Sandy and John Frederick Nims. Guests: John Ashbery, Helen Chasin, Barbara Howes, Lawrence Raab, W. D. Snodgrass, Theodore Weiss, Jay Wright, and James Merrill.
    • Prose Fiction Workshop taught by Nicolas Delbanco, Josephine Carson, and Frederick Busch. Guests: Donald Barthelme, Clark Blaise, Frederick Buechner, Bernard Malamud, John Gardner, Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, Joan Manley, Kenneth McCormick, Bharati Mukherjee, Roberta Pryor, Lore Segal and Hilma Wolitzer.
    • Non Fiction Workshop taught by Alan Cheuse and Richard Elman. Guests: James Atlas, Liz Darhansoff, Digby Diehl, Edward Hoagland, James Landis, David McCullough, Robert Manning, Jack Newfield, and Victor Perera.
    • Playwriting taught by Joanthan Levy and David Trainor. Guests: Marc Connelly, Edward Kleban, Lynne Meadow, Julius Novick and Edith Oliver.
  • George Steiner. "The Uncommon Reader" The First Annual Ben Belitt Lecture. Carriage Barn. (1978-10-03)  Student Newspaper | Quadrille vol 12 n 4. Edith Barbour Andrew's '41 established the Ben Belitt Lectureships in 1978 in honor of William Troy and Ben Belitt. Chapbook.
  • Stephen Becker. Reading from his novel The Last Mandarin Tishman (1978-10-12) Quadrille vol 12 n 3 
  • Bernard Malamud. Reading from Dubin's Lives, a new work to be published in February 1978. (1978-10-26) Quadrille vol 12 n 3
  • Ben Belitt. Reading from The Double Witness: Poems 1970-1976. (1978-11-09) Quadrille vol 12 n 3
  • Helen Vendler. A Lecture on Keat's "Ode on a Grecian Urn." Tishman (1978-11-30) poster
  • Juan de La Sierra. A Concert of Classical Flamenco Guitar Styles sponsored by The Forgein Languages Committee of the Literature and Languages Division. Tishman (1978-12-10) poster

1979

  • Kenneth Irby. Poetry Reading. Commons Theatre. (1979-04-05) College Week v 76 n 5
  • Students reading original work. Perry Norris, Topper Lilien, Margaret Friedle. Franklin Living Room. (1979-04-12) College Week v 76 n 5 
  • Octavio Armand and Carol Maier. Poetry Reading. Commons Theatre. 8:15 pm (1979-04-12) College Week v 76 n 5
  • Jill Johnston. Reading. Barn One. (1979-04-10) College Week v 76 n 6
  • Albert B. Lord. "Oral Traditional Narrative Song: Its Composition and Poetics" The Stanley Edgar Hyman Memorial Lecture. Tishman. (1979-04-16) College Week vol 76 n 7
  • A Poetry Reading by MichaeI Roloff. Part of the Peter Handke and his Work Symposium. VAPA D207 (1979-04-21) College Week vol 76 n 7
  • Concert by Natalio Galan, Cuban composer. Cosponsored by the Literature and Languages Division, the Music Division and Escandalar, Inc. Greenwall (1979-05-01) College Week vol 76 n 9
  • Lecture by Natalio Galan, Cuban composer. Cosponsored by the Literature and Languages Division, the Music Division and Escandalar, Inc. (1979-05-03) College Week vol 76 n 9
  • Malkla Mbuzi. Poetry reading and workshop. Sponsored by the Black Music Division. Carriage Barn. (1979-05-07) College Week vol 76 n 9
  • Richard Tristman. Lecture, "Canonicity" Barn One. (1979-05-17) College Week vol 76 n 11
  • Meno Spann. ""Classicism as a Religion." Tishman (1979-05-24) College Week vol 76 n12
  • Student reading. Doug LeBrun, Mary Raff, Cheryl Meyer and Sadie Fellhauer. Franklin Living Room. (1979-05-24) College Week vol 76 n12
  • James Merrill and David Kalstone. A poetry reading by Merrill and a lecture by Kalstone, "The Poet's Story: Versions of Autobiography" Tishman (1979-05-31) College Week vol 76 n12
  • Vivian Gornick. Commencement. Vanguard Volume 1 Issue 3 | Quadrille Aug 1979 vol 13 n 1 | Program | Quadrille, Vol 13, No 1 
  • Bennington Workshop. (1-28 July 1979) Quadrille vol 12 n 4 | Quadrille, Vol 13, No 1 | Quadrille, Vol 13, No 2  
    • Fiction Workshop taught by Nicholas Delbanco and George Garrett. Visiting artists: Rosellen Brown, John Gardner, John Irving, Bernard Malamud, Grace Paley, Hilma Wolitzer. Bernard Malamud Summer Workshop photo
    • Non Fiction Workshop taught by Alan Cheuse and Richard Elman. Visiting artists: Edward Hoagland, Seymour Krim, John Leonard, David McCullough, Nancy Milford, Jack Newfield, Victor Perera. Photograph of Alan Cheuse, David McCullough and Nick Delbanco
    • Poetry Workshop taught by Stephen Sandy, Helen Chasin, and John Frederick Nims. Visiting artists: John Ashbery, Ben Belitt, Heather McHugh, Charles Simic, W. D. Snodgrass.
  • Frank Kermode. "Divination" The Second Annual Ben Belitt Lecture. (1979-10-29) Chapbook | Quadrille, Vol 13, No 2