Episode 10 (with Richard Kopley)

Episode 10 (with Richard Kopley)

Richard Kopley joins me for an illuminating big picturediscussion of his major critical biography, Edgar Allan Poe: A Life (University of Virginia Press, 2025), a remarkable work of scholarly labor and love. We begin with a broad discussion of Richard’s view of his biography (1:07). We then move on to talk about the concept of genius (2:40), the letters of Flora Lapham Mack (used here for the first time) (6:05), the three major arcs that tie together the book (14:00), Poe’s relationships to alcohol and women (23:45), the role of the biographer (27:13), and some recommendations for teaching (32:08).

Episode 9 (with Alexandra Urakova)

Alexandra Urakova joins me for a deep dive into “The Man of the Crowd” and her Gargano-Award-winning essay “‘Penetrating into the Secrets of the Afflicted Heart’: ‘The Man of the Crowd’ and Antebellum Philanthropic Discourse,” published in The Edgar Allan Poe Review in 2023. We discuss Alexandra’s Poe scholarship (1:31), the critical framework of her essay (7:55), her interpretation of the story in relation to philanthropic discourse (13:56), the way her essay departs from notable previous readings (20:21), how teachers could (and why they should!) bring “The Man of the Crowd” into the classroom (29:26), and her current Poe-related works-in-progress (40:10).

Episode 8 (with Amy Branam Armiento and Travis Montgomery)

In our eighth episode, I talk to Amy Branam Armiento and Travis Montgomery, the co-editors of Poe and Women: Recognition and Revision (Lehigh University Press and Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, 2023). Over the course of the discussion, Amy and Travis talk about their research backgrounds (1:47), illuminate the project’s origins and inspirations (5:36), and offer a breakdown of the book’s two sections with attention to each chapter (8:48), including Amy’s “Fifty Years of Women’s Scholarship on Poe” (10:08) and Travis’s “Afterword: Maureen Cobb Mabbott and The Collected Works of Edgar Allan Poe” (35:47). The conversation ends with a focus on the role of the Poe Studies Association in their scholarship (42:25) and some exciting announcements about their future work (45:40).

Episode 7 (with John Gruesser and Tish Crawford)

Dr. John Gruesser and Dr. Norlisha (Tish) Crawford join me to discuss their co-edited special issue of Poe Studies, titled African American Authors Respond to Poe (2023). After I introduce the guests, John and Tish explain the origin and inspiration of the project (3:05). From there, they talk about the format of the issue (with its mix of creative responses, interviews, and critical essays) (6:18), read and reflect on Poe’s “Alone” and Linda D. Addison’s “On My Own” (10:58), and comment on the interviews and articles (19:46). Closing thoughts on the special issue revolve around scholarly attention to genre fiction and the construction of the canon (36:47). In the end, John and Tish preview some upcoming projects and publications (49:36). Like the special issue, this engaging interview highlights new perspectives on Poe and his work.

Episode 6 (with John Tresch)

Dr. John Tresch, Mellon Chair and Professor of History of Art, Science, and Folk Practice at the Warburg Institute, joins me in an exciting conversation focused on The Reason for the Darkness in the Night: Edgar Allan Poe and the Forging of American Science (Straus and Giroux, 2021). We discuss the origins of the project and its unexpected track to becoming a biography (1:42), Poe’s early life and immersion in science (8:27), “Sonnet to Science” (13:22), “The Tell-Tale Heart” (18:28), the intersections between Poe and Alexander Dallas Bache and Joseph Henry (24:32), the parallel tracks that Poe and those men pursued in an attempt to institutionalize their fields (33:42), and Eureka (42:40). We close by talking about the upcoming special issue in Poe Studies focused on science, for which he wrote the introduction (52:59). The conversation is full of surprises and ideas that can inspire new perspectives and investigations for Poe studies!