January 7, 2014, Filed Under: Authors, Books + Manuscripts, Research + TeachingResearch at the Ransom Center: “To Cape Town and back, via Mongolia” Perhaps one of the most distinctive features of J. M. Coetzee’s 1981 novel Waiting for the Barbarians is the setting—an imaginary empire, one lacking a specified place and time. Yet, when Coetzee penned the first draft of the novel, it was set in Cape Town, South Africa. David Attwell, a… read more
December 19, 2013, Filed Under: Photography, Research + TeachingFellows Find: Jimmy Hare photography collection reveals early photojournalism history John Mraz is a research professor in the Instituto de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades “Alfonso Vélez Pliego” of the Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla. He received a fellowship from the David Douglas Duncan Endowment for Photojournalism and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Research Fellowship Endowment to study “Jimmy Hare’s… read more
December 12, 2013, Filed Under: Books + Manuscripts, Film, Research + TeachingFellows Find: Gloria Swanson biographer discovers rich material in Ransom Center’s archive “I’m ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille,” says Norma Desmond in the famous end scene of Sunset Boulevard. Gloria Swanson, the actress who portrayed Desmond, is ready, as well. Bowdoin Professor Tricia Welsch received fellowships, which were funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Endowment, to conduct research in the… read more