Author Joyce Carol Oates has said, "The surreal, raised to the level of poetry, is the very essence of gothic." But what is the genre called Southern gothic, often identified with Faulkner and Flannery O'Connor? In classic gothic literature, mad monks skulk around in crumbling castles. In Southern gothic, outsiders and misfits act out their bizarre destinies in the decayed atmosphere of a faded aristocracy or in rural desolation. What are the differences and the similarities between the various forms of gothic and the kind of gothic with its roots in the American South? What is the appeal of Southern gothic? In this program, Sherry Austin, author of the 2006 Southern gothic novel Where the Woodbine Twines, will talk about this uniquely American facet of the genre Oates said "displays the range, depth, audacity and fantastical extravagance of the human imagination."

A Rich and Fertile Mystery: Literary Nonfiction about Nature and Science (new)

"We are surrounded by a rich and fertile mystery," Henry David Thoreau once said, speaking of the natural world. He, along with Rachel Carson, John Burroughs, John Muir, Aldo Leopold, Loren Eiseley, and many others, forged works of literary art from fact. They communicated the mystery surrounding the natural world with accuracy and eloquence in a language we can all understand. In this program, Sherry Austin will acquaint her audience with more recent masters of this form of literary nonfiction, with special emphasis on NC writers who present the wonders of nature and science with rich, lyrical prose.

Program requirements: lectern, microphone