Angus with his Sunday morning stogie. I hope you have yours also.
I try to write a note to you, my beloved supporters, each month, but April has almost gotten away from me. It's the end of term, with the usual busyness but also Honors students defending their senior theses — much stress to be managed, nerves to be soothed. My students are great, and they take their work seriously, sometimes a little too seriously — so we Honors College faculty and advisers are here to help them through. (It's a really admirable community in that sense, and in several others too.) I've been busy.
Posting has been a little lighter than usual lately, but I have Plans.
Over the years I've made it clear how much I admire micro.blog, and one of its under-used features is podcasting. I've done a few audio posts over the years, but I'm about to do more. With my biography of Paradise Lost coming out next month, I'm planning to do two series of micropods — short audio posts — the first on the poem, the second on my book. I thought it would be fun to call attention to a few key moments in Milton's great poem, to help the first-time reader and also those who may simply need a refresher. I am thinking of this as a series of hints rather than as a complete guide — but if the latter is much desired, I just might do it.
Anyway, after yakking for a while about Paradise Lost itself, I'll turn to the real subject of my book, which is its afterlife: the extraordinary and passionate responses to this extraordinary poem. You can subscribe to the audio posts in your podcast app — just search for my name — but they will also appear at social.ayjay.org alongside the other stuff. So keep your eyes peeled!
I have some other plans too, but those I'll save for next month's message.
A happy Spring and a blessed Easter season to you all!