On Tuesday, November 12, Stonehill hosted its annual Chet Raymo Literary Lecture. This year, the guest speaker was Maggie Nelson, the acclaimed writer whose work spans genres and covers topics from queer studies, to feminist theory, to art criticism. In fact, as Nelson mentioned in her talk, she avoids the use of genre to describe her works, instead focusing on expressing what she has to say without putting it within the constraints of a genre.Â
In her presentation, Nelson read two excerpts for the audience. The first was the beginning 10 pages of her essay titled “The Slicks,” which explores an interesting comparison between Sylvia Plath and Taylor Swift. Nelson begins by describing her history reading and interpreting Plath. Then as the essay continues, she speaks to Swift’s newest album, The Tortured Poets Department, and how it echoes certain ideas of Plath who was the original “tortured poet.” Ultimately, the essay is about fame, and how these particular women’s search for it is rather interesting. The fame that they both gained, Plath posthumously and Swift currently, is somehow always twisted by society over the fact that they are women in the spotlight.Â
The next reading Nelson did was from her not-yet-released book Pathemata, Or, The Story of My Mouth. This book, Nelson explained, is an amalgamation of dreams she wrote down having during the pandemic and records of her experiences suffering from jaw pain. In the excerpt she read, there was an alternation between these two things, and she explained to us afterwards that as the book continues, these two portions weave together to form a conscious stream of ideas. The book focuses on the existence of the mouth, and what it means to use it, speak, and have a voice.Â
Maggie Nelson’s visit to Stonehill was an enlightening event to attend. I enjoyed getting to hear her read from her own works, and she gave a lot of interesting perspective into the readings that she did as well as her own creative process. I highly recommend checking out any of Nelson’s writings if you are interested!