Michael Gorra
Mary Augusta Jordan Professor Emeritus of English at Smith College and author/editor of books on nineteenth-century literature, contributing expertise on short fiction and Washington Irving.
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Mar 20, 2026 • 59min
Imagining Independence; or, Why Does Rip Van Winkle Sleep Through the Revolution?
Brenda Wineapple, literary biographer of Hawthorne; Wendy S. Walters, Columbia writing professor and poet; Michael Gorra, nineteenth-century literature scholar. They explore Washington Irving’s Rip Van Winkle, William Austin’s Peter Rugg, and Hawthorne’s Major Molineux. Short stories are read as imaginative responses to the Revolution. The panel probes myth, haunting pasts, civic awakening, and rites of belonging.
