Well-known poet Sandra M. Gilbert to speak about women's literary traditions, April 6

Sandra M. Gilbert

GOSHEN, Ind. – Ground-breaking scholar, poet and author Sandra M. Gilbert will reflect on her work shaping the canon of women's literature and feminist literary criticism over the past 40 years when she speaks at Goshen College on "Finding Atlantis: Thirty Years of Discovering Women's Literary Traditions" as part of the S.A. Yoder Lecture Series on Tuesday, April 6 at 7 p.m. in the Newcomer Center Room 19. The event is free and open to the public.

Gilbert is best known for editing the first "Norton Anthology of Literature by Women and Feminist Literary Theory and Criticism" and her classic critical work on Victorian women writers, "The Madwoman in the Attic."

Distinguished Professor of English Emerita at the University of California at Davis, Gilbert is the author of seven collections of poetry. "Belongings," her latest book of poems, was published by Norton in 2005, and a prose work, "Death's Door: Modern Dying and The Ways We Grieve," was published by Norton in 2006. Gilbert has also published a memoir, "Wrongful Death" (Norton) and an anthology of elegies, "Inventions of Farewell" (Norton), along with a number of critical works. Her poetry and fiction have appeared in such periodicals as "Poetry," "Field," the "Ontario Review," "Epoch," the "American Poetry Review," "American Scholar," the "New Yorker," as well as in a number of anthologies.

In 1990, Gilbert was a co-recipient of the International Poetry Forum's Charity Randall Award. More recently, she has won a Patterson Prize, an American Book Award, the John Ciardi Award for Lifetime Achievement in Poetry, the Premio Lerici Pea awarded by the Liguri nel Mondo association and several awards from "Poetry Magazine."

Gilbert divides her time between residences in Berkeley, Calif., and Paris, France.

The S.A. Yoder Lecture Series, begun in 1972, honors Dr. Samuel A. Yoder, a professor at Goshen College from 1930 to 1935 and again from 1946 until his death in 1970.

Editors: For more information about this release, to arrange an interview or request a photo, contact Goshen College News Bureau Director Jodi H. Beyeler at (574) 535-7572 or jodihb@goshen.edu.

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Goshen College, established in 1894, is a residential Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. The college's Christ-centered core values – passionate learning, global citizenship, compassionate peacemaking and servant-leadership – prepare students as leaders for the church and world. Recognized for its unique Study-Service Term program, Goshen has earned citations of excellence in Barron's Best Buys in Education, "Colleges of Distinction," "Making a Difference College Guide" and U.S.News & World Report's "America's Best Colleges" edition, which named Goshen a "least debt college." Visit www.goshen.edu.