About the Project
The Fugitive poets who wrote at Vanderbilt in the 1920s went on to publish influential writing textbooks, receive prestigious awards, and teach at notable institutions around the country. They influenced the path of American literature both through their own contributions to the field and through their mentorship of younger writers. In this fellowship, students combed through archival materials to trace a literary family tree that started with the Fugitive poets and followed their connections to significant writers up to the present day. Fellows developed their research skills by directly interacting with primary source materials such as diaries, letters, photographs, oral histories, and artifacts. By connecting the Fugitives to the contemporary literary realm, fellows illustrated the significance of mentorship and the effect that teachers and students can have on each other.
Mentor
Mary McSparran
Fellows
Colleen Newman; Marjelie Pierre Etienne; Ariel Konieczko
Project
The fellows' final projects included mapping connections through a digital network and preparing material for a "family tree" wall graphic.