Elmira College

« Back to Recent News

Fall 'Trouble Begins' Lecture Series Set

Elmira, NY (09/05/2018) — The fall portion of the 2018-2019 The Trouble Begins Lecture Series presented by the Center for Mark Twain Studies features four lectures, with the first event set for Wednesday, October 10 in The Barn at Quarry Farm. All four lectures begin at 7:00 p.m., and are free and open to the public.

The first lecture, "Getting to Know Mark Twain through the Eyes of Grace King, a Southern Woman of Letters," will be presented by Miki Pfeffer, visiting scholar at Nicholls State University in Louisiana. New Orleans writer, Grace King, enjoyed a two-decade friendship with Sam and Livy Clemens and their daughters, Susy, Clara, and Jean. King visited the family in Hartford in 1887 and 1888 and in Florence in 1892. She wrote to her family about the Twain homes, meals, dress, and habits. From New Orleans, she exchanged letters with each Clemens, especially Livy, with whom she became a confidante. Miki Pfeffer will read from some of King's captivating letters that offer a fresh view of the Clemenses and of Mark Twain as loving homebody, father, and generous friend to this ambitious southern woman.

On Wednesday, October 17, the Series continues in Cowles Hall on the Elmira College campus with "Mark Twain, TV Star," presented by David Bianculli of Rowan University and NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross. The real Mark Twain, Samuel L. Clemens, appeared in only one film in his lifetime, shortly before his death: a short silent movie of him walking around his Stormfield home, photographed by Thomas Edison's Edison film company in 1909. But since then, Mark Twain has been on television dozens of times - immortalized, and impersonated, by a frankly startling array of actors on the small screen. The character and image of Mark Twain have been kept alive by shows ranging from Bonanza and The Rifleman to Touched by an Angel and Star Trek: The Next Generation. David Bianculli will discuss and show clips from all these and more.

The Series continues in The Barn at Quarry Farm on Wednesday, October 24 with "Writing from Roots in 'America's Hometown': Flood, a Novel," will be presented by Melissa Scholes Young, associate professor in the Department of Literature at American Univesity. Literature and life often claim you can't go home again, but what happens if you have to? In this book talk and author reading, Melissa Scholes Young will chronicle how Mark Twain's own exodus from Hannibal parallels Laura Brooks', the protagonist of her debut novel, Flood, who like the Mississippi River, once ran in the wrong direction in order to recalibrate. She'll share her historical research and creative writing process as well as explore why Twain's origin in rural America is more relevant than ever.

The fall portion of the Series wraps up on Wednesday, November 7, in The Barn at Quarry Farm with "'At the Farm': Reliving Mark Twain's 1884 Summer at Quarry Farm," presented by John Bird, emeritus professor of English at Winthrop University. As he did for many summers, Mark Twain packed up his family (including dogs and cats, and in this case, a bicycle) and left Hartford for an extended stay at Elmira's Quarry Farm. Part of Bird's current work-in-progress, a micro-biography of Twain in the year 1884, this presentation will let audiences relive his and his family's experience that summer.

About The Trouble Begins Lecture Series

In 1984, the Elmira College Center for Mark Twain Studies initiated a lecture series, The Trouble Begins at Eight lecture series. The title came from the handbill advertising Mark Twain's October 2, 1866 lecture presented at Maguire's Academy of Music in San Francisco. The first lectures were presented in 1985. By invitation, Mark Twain scholars present lectures in the fall and spring of each year, in the Barn at Quarry Farm or at Peterson Chapel in Cowles Hall on Elmira College's campus. All lectures are free and open to the public.

Media Attachments

The fall portion of the 2018-2019 The Trouble Begins Lecture Series presented by the Center for Mark Twain Studies features four lectures, with the first event set for Wednesday, October 10 in The Barn at Quarry Farm. All four lectures begin at 7:00 p.m., and are free and open to the public.

Copyright © 2024 Merit Pages, Inc. • All Rights Reserved. • Terms of Service • Privacy Policy • Opt Out