Episode 4 (with J. Gerald Kennedy)

Dr. J. Gerald Kennedy, Emeritus Boyd Professor of English at Louisiana State University, joins me in an intriguing conversation about some of his major publications and edited collections and his upcoming cultural biography on Poe. (Our talk also includes shout-outs to our previous guests, Richard Kopley, Kelly Ross, Emron Esplin, and Margarida Vale de Gato!) We start with a discussion of Poe, Death, and the Life of Writing and its relation to his current work (1:15). We then turn to three of his “greatest hits”—Romancing the Shadow: Poe and Race (18:10), Strange Nation: Literary Nationalism and Cultural Conflict in the Age of Poe (25:16), and The Oxford Handbook of Edgar Allan Poe (38:06). We close with continued attention to Jerry’s work-in-progress biography (44:57). As you’ll hear, the work promises to dig deep into Poe’s search for meaning in life and his yearning for the beyond.