Announcement: Marilyn Gaull Book Award

Abstract

Previous articleNext article FreeAnnouncement: Marilyn Gaull Book AwardPDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmailQR Code SectionsMoreIn 2021, the Wordsworth-Coleridge Association inaugurated the Marilyn Gaull Book Award, which is conferred annually in recognition of the most outstanding monograph, biography, or scholarly edition reviewed during the previous year in The Wordsworth Circle, which Marilyn Gaull founded in 1970 and edited through 2019. The prize is awarded to the book that best represents the spirit of wide-ranging inquiry, critical acumen, and enduring influence on the field that Marilyn Gaull always championed. To be eligible for consideration, books must be submitted for review by The Wordsworth Circle, where reviews appear in the fourth issue (Fall) of every volume year. Although there is no formal deadline for receipt of materials, authors are urged to submit their work no later than January 31. Submissions are welcome in all areas of British, European, and North American Romantic studies. The awardee will receive a $1,000 prize and will be recognized at the Wordsworth-Coleridge Association lunch at the annual meeting of the Modern Language Association.The Wordsworth-Coleridge Association is pleased to announce the first recipient of the Marilyn Gaull Book Award (2021): Andrew M. Stauffer’s Book Traces: Nineteenth-Century Readers and the Future of the Library (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2021), reviewed by Tom Mole in The Wordsworth Circle 52.4 (2021): 524–27. The review committee commended Stauffer’s award-winning study as follows:Andrew Stauffer’s Book Traces: Nineteenth-Century Readers and the Future of the Library reaches out beyond academic readers to the librarians and budget-holders who are often the unacknowledged legislators of our discipline. His work makes a compelling case for the continuing social relevance of reading Romantic poetry – in its widest sense – as an “embodied mode of attentiveness” (to borrow Rita Felski’s term). The judges thought that Marilyn Gaull would have loved the book’s enthusiasm, boldness, scope, and its keen sense of what might work in the classroom to nurture the love of Romantic literature that we all want to uphold and defend against the relentless presentism of contemporary culture. By immersing twenty-first century researchers and students in the reading experiences of nineteenth-century readers, Book Traces creates a new understanding of the value of the Romantic tradition – not just as another form of curated culture – but as a vital way of kindling empathy across and within different communities of readers. By standing up for the preservation of print collections with passion, intellect, and urgency, Andrew Stauffer has initiated a new chapter in Romantic Studies, connecting the affective power of Romantic poetry in the future with its material past. The depth of scholarship and freshness of his argument is impressive as well as a joy to read, from start to finish. For the inaugural award of this prize, we felt that there was no more significant achievement than a forthright defence of the foundation of our discipline.The Wordsworth Circle joins the Wordsworth-Coleridge Association in congratulating Andrew Stauffer on his vital, timely, and award-winning contribution to Romantic studies.To be considered for the Marilyn Gaull Book Award, publications should be sent for review to the editor, Charles Mahoney:Department of EnglishUniversity of Connecticut215 Glenbrook Road, U-4025Storrs, CT 06269-4025Please address any questions to the editor, at [email protected]. Previous articleNext article DetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The Wordsworth Circle Volume 53, Number 2Spring 2022 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/721551 © 2022 The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.