News & Publications
Lecture on Flannery O'Connor Short Story at St. John's College
FOR RELEASE: January 21, 2009
CONTACT: Patricia Dempsey 410-626-2539
Patricia.Dempsey@sjca.edu
St. John's Tutor Joan Silver will give a lecture at St. John's College entitled, "On Same and Other, Image and Being in Flannery O'Connor's Story with the Unspeakable Name." The lecture will be held in the Francis Scott Key Auditorium on Friday, January 30, at 8:15 p.m. The lecture is free and open to the public.
Silver will be discussing O'Connor's story "The Artificial Nigger." "This story was both her favorite among her own stories and the one she considered her best," says Silver. "In the lecture, I will explore some threads from the story: pride, shame, and fear; the 'same' and the 'other' as related to how we think of and treat each other; images; and, finally, hell, purgatory, and grace." No knowledge of the story will be assumed for the lecture, but Silver encourages attendees to "read and enjoy it."
O'Connor is a noted American fiction writer, particularly acclaimed for her short stories. She published two books of short stories, "A Good Man is Hard to Find" (1955) and "Everything that Rises Must Converge (published posthumously in 1965). She also published two novels, "Wise Blood" (1952) and "The Violent Bear it Away" (1960).
Silver joined St. John's College in 1977 and has been a tutor on both the Annapolis and Santa Fe campuses. She recently served as the director of the college's Graduate Institute in Liberal Education.