WHEATLEY PETERS PROJECT
  • Home
  • Resources
    • Recent Scholarship >
      • Publications
      • Presentations
    • Teaching Resources
    • General Readings
    • News and Media
  • Activities
    • Overview
    • Virtual/Hybrid
    • In-Person
    • Writing Contest >
      • Elementary School Entry
      • Middle School Entry
      • High School Entry
  • Team
    • Codirectors
    • Contributors
    • Cosponsors
    • Sister Projects
  • Gallery
    • Past Events >
      • Photos
      • Videos
    • Posters
  • Contact

The Genius of Phillis Wheatley Peters

A Poet and Her Legacies

The Project

Picture
 Why Phillis Wheatley Peters?
         Phillis Wheatley arrived in Boston from her African homeland in July 1761. Though only about seven or eight years old, she was transported with other captives aboard the ship Phillis as part of an ongoing push to make slavery central to the economies, politics, and daily life in North America. Purchased by a New England merchant, John Wheatley, and “given” to his wife Susanna, the young girl found herself far from her West African home, suddenly immersed in a foreign culture where--however benign the Wheatleys themselves may have viewed their relationship to the young girl--she was, in fact, enslaved. 

         Though we cannot recover much of Phillis Wheatley’s personal or family history prior to what must have been a terrifying transatlantic journey, we do know reasons why she remarkably became, as a young adolescent, a celebrity author, first in her new “home” city of Boston, and, not long afterwards, internationally. 
Read More
About Our Project
“The Genius of Phillis Wheatley Peters” embodies both an honoring of the poet and her legacies and an opportunity to spotlight the learning power and the significance of literature in our lives. Through a partnership of the University of Georgia and TCU, this project also celebrates the efficacy of collaborative learning informed by a participatory vision of the humanities and the arts. Our codirectors, contributing team members, and many sponsoring groups and organizations have come together in shared learning throughout the 2023 anniversary year of Wheatley Peters’s Poems--and beyond
Sharing Resources
​We invite visitors to the website to return often; we’ll continue to add resources throughout 2023, including information about scholarship on Wheatley Peters, teaching resources, and links to general-interest readings.
Activities
Upcoming Events – April 3 & 4
April 3, 4:30-6:00 p.m. ET, 3:30-5:00 CT (90 mins): Book Talk by Professor Vincent Carretta: “Recovering the life of Phillis Wheatley Peters, 'A WONDER of the Age indeed!,’”new and revised 2023 edition of his biography (organizers: Dr. Casie Legette/UGA, Nate Holley/UGA, and Lisa Bayer/UGA Press). Register here.
 
April 4, 10:00 a.m. ET, 9:00 a.m. CT (90 mins): “Re-reading a Life: Responding to Vincent Carretta’s New Biography of Wheatley Peters”--A Scholarly Roundtable
Scholars from around the globe, in English and other fields: livestreamed and recorded

Moderator: John Lowe, UGA 
Panelists:
Tara Bynum, University of Iowa 
Keith Hughes, University of Edinburgh 
George Elliott Clarke, University of Toronto
Lenora Warren, Cornell University

Register here.
Check out the details in the Activities tab or register with the links above!
One goal of our project is to foster many connections in line with our vision of participatory humanities. Thus, most events during 2023 will employ a virtual format and will be recorded for continued access. Others will be hybrid, allowing a blend of in-person attendance and online participation; a few will be in-person only. Our range of activities aims to invite diverse audiences to join in the study of Wheatley Peters and her era as an important example of how voices originally speaking from marginalized positions generate valuable cultural legacies.
Download an Overview of Our Events Below!
wheatley_peters_all_events_overview.pdf
File Size: 3518 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

 
 
 

Codirectors

Picture
Barbara McCaskill
Professor of English (UGA)
Picture
Mona Narain
Professor of English (TCU)
Picture
Susan Rosenbaum
Associate Professor of English (UGA)
Picture
Sarah Ruffing-Robbins
Professor of English (TCU)
Photo Credit: "Phillis Wheatley, Poet at Work" by Lorraine DiSabato

Check the “Activities” Tab to view our calendar of events and link up to recordings of some past events.

Join a litany of Wheatley scholars to celebrate her 250-year anniversary!
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
  • Resources
    • Recent Scholarship >
      • Publications
      • Presentations
    • Teaching Resources
    • General Readings
    • News and Media
  • Activities
    • Overview
    • Virtual/Hybrid
    • In-Person
    • Writing Contest >
      • Elementary School Entry
      • Middle School Entry
      • High School Entry
  • Team
    • Codirectors
    • Contributors
    • Cosponsors
    • Sister Projects
  • Gallery
    • Past Events >
      • Photos
      • Videos
    • Posters
  • Contact