I am pleased to announce that I am part of a “Round Table” conversation on L.M. Montgomery’s novel, Emily of New Moon. While it is not always my favourite work of Montgomery’s in terms of sheer readerly relexation, it is by far my favourite in terms of artistry and thoughtfulness. I think it is nearly a work of literary genius–all the more so because it masquerades as simply an accessible coming-of-age tale of a precocious writer. There is such vibrancy in this novel–such a taste of artistic delight, numinous joy, and the harrowing of the pilgrim’s soul–that I cannot emphasize too much how rich it is for invested readers.

Thus, I was pleased to be invited to be part of a Round Table discussion on September 25th at 2:00 EDT on Zoom. Editor extraordinaire Benjamin Lefebvre will moderate the Emily of New Moon Round Table. We’ll be joined by Kate Sutherland, who has written a number of articles on Montgomery and law–which includes Montgomery’s deeply emotionally and historically important decade-long legal battle with her American publisher–and E. Holly Pike, who, following a number of Montgomery literary critical pieces, is co-editing L.M. Montgomery and Gender with Laura M. Robinson (due to be released later this fall by McGill-Queen’s University Press). As with other creative editions of the “Conversations about L.M. Montgomery” video series, there will be a chat moderator (literary scholar Caroline Jones) and host (historian Andrea McKenzie).

Speaker List:

• Brenton D.G. Dickieson, “The Megan Follows Audiobook Version of Emily of New Moon“
• E. Holly Pike, “Age Values in Emily of New Moon“
• Kate Sutherland, “Lessons in Law in Emily of New Moon“

This is a free event, though registration is required: https://yorku.zoom.us/…/tJUqfuytpjsjHdEpmiFZDSOFngVMz5c…. All Montgomery readers and scholars are welcome to attend and join in on the conversation. We normally spend about an hour on the event, then throw open the microphones for an informal visit afterwards.

This event comes out of the L.M. Montgomery Readathon on Emily of New Moon, which began early this summer. Developing out of a need for pandemic-era connection, and led by Montgomery scholars such as Ben and Andrea, it has developed into a dynamic online reading community. The “Readathon” is now moving into the Emily sequel, Emily Climbs (beginning this week, I believe).