English Professor Presented at Language Conference

Dr. Bethany Hicok, Westminster College associate professor of English, presented a paper at the 110th annual conference of the Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association Nov. 12-14 at Chaminade University in Honolulu.

The conference featured more than 100 sessions on topics relating to the teaching and study of language, literature, and culture. Hicok's presentation, "'Flying Down to Rio': Elizabeth Bishop, Clarice Lispector and the American Reception of Brazil at Mid-Century," was part of a panel on "Poetry and Poetics: Oceania."

"I argued that American poet Elizabeth Bishop provides a number of fascinating intersecting points in the cultural dialogue between America and Brazil in the 1950 and '60s when Bishop lived in Brazil," Hicok said. "I focused on her translation of a story by Brazilian writer Clarice Lispector and the influence it had on the poetry Bishop was writing at the time."

The paper is part of a larger project Hicok is working on that will reconsider Bishop's work in the context of Brazil's intellectual and political culture at mid-century and how Bishop contributed to the making of cultural meaning about Brazil for a new American audience.

"Several Bishop scholars in the audience expressed their enthusiasm for my current book project on Bishop and Brazil and agreed there is a need for such a study," Hicok said. "I received useful feedback that will help me shape this paper into a chapter for the book and got a sense of the kind of research I need to do."

The paper and her interest in Lispector grew out of Hicok's participation in a National Endowment for the Humanities summer seminar on contemporary Brazilian urban fiction held in São Paulo in July.

Hicok, who joined the Westminster faculty in 2001, earned an undergraduate degree from Russell Sage College and two masters and a Ph.D. from the University of Rochester. She is the author of Degrees of Freedom: American Women Poets and the Women's College, 1905-1955. She has published articles on Bishop, Marianne Moore, and Wallace Stevens, contributed chapters to two books, and delivered papers on American poetry at professional conferences.

Contact Hicok at (724) 946-6349 or e-mail hicokbf@westminster.edu for additional information.

Dr. Bethany Hicok