Curating 20th Century U.S. Literature

Throughout the 20th century, writers in the United States of America produced an unprecedentedly large, diverse, and transformative body of literature. Authors, editors, and publishers began anthologizing this material early in the century, often aiming to introduce new communities of writers¿including those marginalized because of their race, gender, or sexuality¿to U.S. readers. As a result, anthologies became important to the lives and literature of a wide range of major 20th century U.S. authors, including EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY, WILLIAM STANLEY BRAITHWAITE, HILDA "H.D." DOOLITTLE., WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS, ERNEST HEMINGWAY, JAMES WELDON JOHNSON, LANGSTON HUGHES, ZORA NEAL HURSTON, RICHARD WRIGHT, ALLEN GINSBERG, ADRIENNE RICH, AMIRI BARAKA, FRANK O'HARA, JACK KEROUAC, AUDRE LORDE, CARLOS BULOSAN, FRANK CHIN, GLORIA ANZALDÚA, BERNADETTE MAYER, LESLIE MARMON SILKO, LOUISE ERDRICH, MICHAEL CHABON, CLAUDIA RANKINE AND MANY, MANY MORE., Students in this course will have the opportunity to read all of these authors and others, and in doing so will construct a concrete, comprehensive, and cutting-edge understanding of how U.S. literature developed over the course of the 20th century.