T.S. Eliot is by many counts the most celebrated English-language poet of the 20th century. He is the only poet Time magazine included in its list of the 100 most important people of the 20th century. To Ben Lockerd, president of the international T.S. Eliot Society and a professor of English at Grand Valley State University, it's clear: "He's one of the greatest and in many people's estimation, the greatest poet writing in the 20th century."
On November 4, Grand Valley will present a lecture by author and scholar Dr. Ronald Schuchard of Emory University, one of the world's foremost authorities on T.S. Eliot. Schuchard's lecture will focus on the many ways that Eliot has been read, with the suggestion that Eliot may also be considered a great love poet. The event begins at 7 p.m. at the DeVos Center, Loosemore Auditorium, on GVSU's Pew Grand Rapids Campus, 401 W. Fulton St. The lecture is open to the public free of charge, and will be followed by a reception.
Schuchard, a professor of English at Emory University, is author of "Eliot's Dark Angel" (Oxford University Press, 1999), which won the Robert Penn Warren-Cleanth Brooks Award for Outstanding Literary Criticism, among other honors, and is hailed by literary critics as "essential reading for professional scholars" and "a treasure trove of information about Eliot's life and art." Eliot's wife, Valerie Eliot, chose Schuchard to edit two of her late husband's important unpublished lectures, which were published under the title "Varieties of Metaphysical Poetry." Schuchard has also produced scholarly studies on W.B. Yeats and other modern poets.
Lockerd, who this year became president of the T.S. Eliot Society and in 1998 published a book, "Aethereal Rumours," on Eliot's writings, noted that Grand Rapids is well-suited for having an event on Eliot: the West Michigan area is home to a number of members of the T.S. Eliot Society, a St. Louis-based organization with 200 members from 20 countries.
The local interest may be attributed in part to Eliot's social conservatism in his later years, said Lockerd. Worldwide, however, Eliot's appeal also seems to grow, as evidenced by new Eliot societies in places like Japan and Korea. "Eliot's fame is worldwide," Lockerd said. "The awareness of his greatness has, if anything, increased over time."
T.S. Eliot (1888-1965), was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, educated at Harvard, and settled in England, eventually becoming a British citizen. He published his most famous poem, The Waste Land," in 1922. The poem called "cubist" because of its fragmented style shocked the world and is considered difficult to read, but it is still widely read and appreciated, said Lockerd. Another poem known to Eliot readers is "The Four Quartets," published in 1943. Eliot was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1948.
Schuchard's visit is part of Grand Valley's Fall Arts Celebration, which showcases excellent arts and humanities events throughout the fall. For more information, please call (616) 331-2180. For more information about the T.S. Eliot Society, see http://www.luc.edu/eliot.
