Literary Lights

Today marks the birthday of several literary lights including a man born into slavery and one of Marilyn Monroe's husbands.

Jupiter Hammon was born into slavery in New York state Oct. 17, 1711. He obtained an education and became a writer of poetry and sermons, although he remained enslaved. His poem An Evening Thought: Salvation by Christ with Penitential Ties is the first published poem by an African American, although it isn't the first one written.

The 88-line An Evening Thought was printed in a broadside newspaper in December of 1760. There isn't much written on the man himself, but his work can be found at the Poetry Foundation's website. Hammond died around 1806.

Playwright Arthur Miller's birthday was also October 17. He was born in 1915 in New York and began writing plays as a young man.

Miller was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Death of a Salesman and also a Tony Award for The Crucible. Miller was married to Marilyn Monroe and also penned a play based on that period of his life. Miller died in 2005.

Maya Angelou remembered

Photo from the Poetry Foundation website.

Prolific writer and poet Maya Angelou died early today at the age of 86.

She may best be known for I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, an autobiographical book whose title was taken from Paul Laurence Dunbar's poetry. She was also known as a civil-rights worker, dancer, actor, producer, and professor.

Angelou's full obituary can be found at The New York Times. The Poetry Foundation website has an extensive biography and bibliography.

Is there an article about Angelou that you would like to access but aren't sure how? Please email us at richlandlibrary@dcccd.edu.

Those wishing to read Maya Angelou's poetry or autobiographies have several choices from the Richland College Library.
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Current DCCCD faculty, adjunct faculty, staff, and administrators are able to check out books.

Everyone must show a valid photo I.D. to check out books. Questions? Please ask at the circulation desk.

Question of the week: Who’s Aurora Leigh and where is she?

Richland holdings of Aurora Leigh

How many times have you found yourself digging around looking for a copy of  Aurora Leigh by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, but you just couldn’t seem to find one? 

You’ve looked in the library catalog, but the Richland Library copies are checked out. Other district libraries have copies, but you don't have time to pick one up or to wait for a copy to come to Richland.

You could surf over to Amazon.com and purchase it for your Kindle, or you could search another library for a copy. You could go online to the Gutenberg Project to see if there is a copy there. You can Google it and find the University of Pennsylvania's digital library holding.

But...You will also need some literary criticism and maybe some biographical information about Elizabeth Barrett Browning, so just finding the digital version may not be enough. What if you easily could find a website that compiles multiple facets of literature and literary research?

Literature Online is one database that fits the bill. It is a web resource that contains full-text prose, full-text poetry, literary biographies, and literary criticism.

To get to Literature Online, follow this path: 

1. Go to the Richland library webpage at http://www.richlandcollege.edu/library.

2. Look for the green tabs in the middle of the home page and click on “Databases.

3. Click on the “L” on the A-Z list.

4. Scroll down and click on the “Literature Online” link.

5. Use the “Quick Search” box at the top left to find your work or author.

If you search Aurora Leigh, the database will give you results under the “Poetry,” “Criticism,” and “Reference” headings. For the poem, choose the first result under “Poetry.”

When you click on it, the title information looks like this:

Browning, Elizabeth Barrett, 1806-1861:  [from Poetical works (1897)]
Volume section
Browning, Elizabeth Barrett, 1806-1861 :
AURORA LEIGH.
A POEM IN NINE BOOKS. 1856. [from Poetical works (1897)]

Here, you can scroll through and start reading, click on the “Table of Contents” link to find the section you want, or you can print the 256 pages that comprise this selection. You may also click on the author page to find biographical information, bibliographies, and literary criticism.

Now, not only have you found Aurora Leigh, but you have also found a place where you can read all about her and her creator, Elizabeth Barrett Browning. 
 
Keep searching,
R.D. 

Here’s the durable link to  Aurora Leigh in Literature Online. Students, instructors, and staff with current DCCCD I.D. can log on with their I.D. information.

This is the first of several entries about finding literary works and related information and criticism.

Happy Birthday National Poetry Month!

April 2012 is the 16th birthday of National Poetry Month, the month when libraries, schools, publishers, booksellers, and writers celebrate poetry and its vital place in our culture. There are many ways you can join the celebration!

• Incorporate poetry into your classes or activities. 
• Learn more about Texas poets.
• Put a poem in your pocket on April 26th.
• Download a poetry app for your phone.
• And remember the  Richland College Library has a wonderful collection of books of poetry that you can check out.