News from the Division of Languages and Literature

Bard’s Maria Sachiko Cecire talks to Slate about children’s fantasy literature, looking at the way 20th-century authors of what she calls the “Oxford School” used the genre “as a means to preserve a sense of magic inside a modern world they saw as increasingly hostile to belief.”

Associate Professor of Literature Maria Cecire talks with fellow Rhodes Scholars Jean Balchin and Yan Chen about her new book, Re-Enchanted: The Rise of Children’s Fantasy Literature in the Twentieth Century. The trio discusses what makes fantasy literature magical, why parts of it are culturally inflected, and what we can do to reimagine its future. Cecire also discusses her work as the director of the Center for Experimental Humanities at Bard College.

Bard Artist in Residence Tanya Marcuse and Writer in Residence Francine Prose were in conversation at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building of the New York Public Library on the evening of Monday, December 16. The event celebrated Marcuse’s new book Fruitless, Fallen, and Woven, published by Radius Books. This stunning three-volume set traces the arc of 14 years of Marcuse’s work, from the iconic trees of Fruitless to the lush, immersive photographs of Fallen and Woven. Her work features elaborate tableaux of flora and fauna suggestive of the abstract, large-scale paintings of Jackson Pollock and the symbolism of medieval tapestries. She discussed the creative process with Francine Prose, award-winning writer and best-selling author of more than 20 works of fiction.