The First Website in Denmark to be Devoted to Herman Melville

Professor Søren Frank
University of Southern Denmark

Professor Søren Frank of the University of Southern Denmark has published the first website devoted to Melville in Denmark. Work on the webpage was initiated by Professor Frank in 2015 when he taught a class on Melville. All the students in his class contributed one way or the other to the webpage. Since then, three of the students and Professor Frank have continued to work on the site. The site was officially launched at a reception of the Comparative Literature Department at the University of Southern Denmark (SDU). Click here to visit the site.

NEH Summer Institute for Teachers
The New Bedford Whaling Museum
Summer 2018

Tim Marr has announced that the Melville Society Cultural Project's collaboration with the New Bedford Whaling Museum has been awarded funding for a NEH Summer Institute for School Teachers that will take place at the New Bedford Whaling Museum in Massachusetts from June 17-30, 2018.

More information about how teachers can participate will be available in October. 

You can use the link below to download for distribution the full press release. Here are some excerpts:

The New Bedford Whaling Museum, in association with Melville Society Cultural Project, has been awarded a $136,342 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). The grant will fund a two-week Summer Institute for Teachers in 2018, which will illuminate the art and context of Herman Melville’s famous 19th century American novel Moby-Dick, and help teachers from across the country interpret the book for 21st century students.

Six nationally recognized scholars make up the Melville Society Cultural Project, aimed at sharing an understanding of Herman Melville’s writings, life, and times. They will serve as principal faculty of the Institute: Jennifer Baker, New York University; Mary K. Bercaw Edwards, University of Connecticut; Wyn Kelley, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Chris Sten, George Washington University; Robert K. Wallace, Northern Kentucky University; and Timothy Marr, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, serving as the Institute Director.

“The Melville Society Cultural Project is delighted to partner with the Whaling Museum to bring teachers from around the country to New Bedford, the historical center of American whaling,” said Tim Marr, Director of the Summer Institute for Teachers. “From there we will journey forth together on Melville’s Pequod in quest of Moby-Dick, a text that swims on and is crucially relevant for understanding our human dilemmas in the 21st century.”

The Institute will be hosted at the New Bedford Whaling Museum. New Bedford, Massachusetts is a meaningful location for intensive study of Herman Melville’s masterpiece in the context of the whaling industry. Melville arrived in New Bedford on Christmas day 1840 and shipped nine days later on the Acushnet from Fairhaven across the harbor. Since 2000, the Whaling Museum has partnered with the Melville Society Cultural Project to offer scholarly programming, and the Museum is home to the Melville Society Archive, which constitutes one of the best collections of Melville scholarship anywhere in the world.

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Moby-Dick Marathons - August 2017

Reports of Moby-Dick marathons are coming on line. Two newspapers reported on the marathon held at Seaport Villiage in Mystic, CT. Anna Sullivan of the Westerly Sun in Pawcatuck, Connecticut reports:

Participants join in a marathon reading of the classic Moby-Dick aboard the Charles W. Morgan at the Mystic Seaport on Monday, July 31, 2017. Readers will read the novel, by Herman Melville, for a straight 24 hours, expecting to finish up by noon on August 1st, which is the 198th anniversary of the author's birth.

You can view the Westerly Sun photos here. And Dana Jensen of The Day in New London, CT writes of a featured photo:

Participants listen while a fellow participant takes a turn reading aloud a chapter of "Moby-Dick" onboard the whaleship Charles W. Morgan during the 32nd annual "Moby-Dick" Marathon at Mystic Seaport, Monday, July 31, 2017. The marathon began at noon Monday with participants coming and going, taking an average of 24 hours to complete the book by author Herman Melville. Twenty-four participants have registered to spend the night aboard the whaleship to continue reading aloud overnight and finish around noon on Tuesday.

Photos published of the Mystic Seaport, CT marathon can be viewed here. And of course a Moby-Dick marathon was conducted at Melvillle's one-time home, the house and farm he named Arrowhead, in Pittsfield, MA. Below are two photos taken by at Jana Laiz the Arrowhead Moby-Dick marathon.

Publication of the Final Volume of the
Fifteen-Volume Writings of Herman Melville Series

The final volume of the fifteen-volume Writings of Herman Melville series is scheduled for publication this fall by the Northwestern University Press. The publication of this volume, "Billy Budd, Sailor" and Other Uncompleted Writings, completes the publishing project begun in the mid-1960s by the late Harrison Hayford. Scores of editors have been involved in the publication of the fifteen-volume series. This final volume (vol. 13) includes reading texts and new or corrected literal transcriptions of all the uncompleted prose and verse writings that Melville left in manuscript when he passed away on September 28, 1891. Work on this final volume has been ongoing for more than 35 years—celebrations are in order. Click here or the image below for more information.

New Bedford Moby-Dick Marathon 2017
January 7 and 8
Lecture Friday, January 6

New Bedford Whaling Museum
18 Johnny Cake Hill,
New Bedford, MA 02740

The 2017 dates for the Marathon are January 7-8 and the Marathon lecture is Friday, January 6.

Click the link for more information about the Marathon:
https://www.whalingmuseum.org/programs/21st-annual-moby-dick-marathon-2017

Lecture and Dinner

The lecture this year is a panel discussion entitled "Melville and Religion: Insights from the Melville Society"; it features Jennifer Baker, Mary K. Bercaw Edwards, Mike Dyer, Wyn Kelley, Timothy Marr, Christopher Sten, and Robert K. Wallace.

Click the link for information about the dinner and lecture:
http://store.whalingmuseum.org/collections/events/products/melville-society-exhibit-opening-dinner

New Illustrated Moby-Dick

Illustrator and cartoonist Evan Dahm has finished a large series of illustrations for Herman Melville's Moby-Dick, and is publishing an illustrated hardcover of the entire text, currently on Kickstarter ( https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/evandahm/moby-dick-illustrated ).

The illustrations are ink drawings in a style reminiscent of scrimshaw, and the text is typeset with careful reference to the first American edition of the book. For the past two years, Dahm has published his process online at http://mobydickillustrated.tumblr.com/

"Open Attachments"

Gallery exhibition based on Melville's Moby-Dick

Beth Haber

recent work based on Melville's Moby-Dick

November 12 - December 4, 2016

Opening Reception / November 12 6-8 PM
Artist Talk / Thursday, November 17 7-8 PM
Closing Readings / December 4 3-5 PM

A solo gallery exhibition based on Melville's Moby-Dick: November 12 through December 4
culminating in readings and a concert of "whale music" by David Rothenberg

Concert of Whale Music
David Rothenberg at the Theo Ganz Studio

Beacon, NY December 4, 2016 at 5PM

Philosopher and musician David Rothenberg is the author of Why Birds Sing, published in eight languages. It was turned into a feature length BBC TV documentary. Rothenberg has also writtenThousand Mile Song, about making music live with whales, Survival of the Beautiful, on evolution and beauty, and Bug Music, on insects and their million-years old music. His music, recorded on ECM, Gruenrekorder, and the Terra Nova labels, usually involves an intergration with his clarinet improvisation with live and recorded natural sounds.. Rothenberg has sixteen CDs out under his own name. He is distinguished professor of philosophy and music at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. www.davidrothenberg.net

Rothenberg was part of "Moby-Dick: The Big Read," where the entire text was performed by different characters and released online, including, Tilda Swinton, Stephen Fry, John Waters, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Mary Oliver. Rothenberg performed chapter 79, “The Prairie” and he’ll do it live in Beacon. http://www.mobydickbigread.com/chapter-79-the-prairie/

HERMAN MELVILLE: WRITER FOR THE WORLD

Livesteaming event on the Woodlawn Cemetary Facebook page:
Wednesday, September 28th at 2 PM

TheWoodlawnCemetery

Dr. John Bryant, President of the Melville Society and Professor Emeritus of English at Hofstra University will be leading a collection of readings from Melville’s works featuring prominent authors, academics and musical artists. Visit The Woodlawn Cemetery Facebook page tomorrow at 2 PM.

Moby-Dick Mini-Marathon coming October 14, 2016.

The first in a series of nautical literary events from the "Captain's Salon" at the SF Maritime Research Center at Fort Mason. Food & drink by "Off the Grid!" Melville open-mic! Read your favorite passage from Moby-Dick or another Melville work! Short talks by neat people! Film! Surprises! Co-sponsored by Cal Maritime, The Melville Society, and the Friends of the SF Maritime Museum Library. Public Transit recommended! https://www.facebook.com/events/1766227910302863/

Toward the Sea - Concert
presented by Chamber Music NY

The Bruno Walter Auditorium
NY Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center
111 Amsterdam Avenue
New York, NY 10023

Saturday, October 22, 2016, 8 p.m.

"Musical works selected from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and the anchor piece, Takemitsu's 'Toward the Sea', meditate on the themes of the sea, voyage and the rumination of the soul."

Mélanie Genin, harp, and Catherine Gregory, flute

Mélanie Genin and Catherine Gregory

From the announcement: 

An immersive performance combining music, text, ambient sounds and visual art.

Flutist Catherine Gregory and harpist Mélanie Genin embark on an immersive journey exploring Herman Melville’s epic tale through music and literary extracts, while combining multimedia elements, visuals and ambient noise.

The performance is preceded by the ‘Pre-show’, inviting the audience to enter "Toward the Sea" in an interactive and immersive way leading seamlessly to the continuous performance from beginning to end, with the performers entwining passages of the book with the music.

Together, the music and text convey Melville’s philosophical impact, focusing on the character’s psyche and the metaphysical questions he alludes to in the novel.

For more information click here to read the announcement on the Chamber Music NY website.

Three Presentations by David Dowling on the Essex

June 20 - Nantucket Whaling Museum
June 21 - Cape Cod Maritime Museum
June 23 - Falmouth Historical Society

This June, David Dowling, a long time Melville Society Member, will be giving presentations on findings from his new book, Surviving the Essex: The Afterlife of America’s Most Storied Shipwreck.

The first, hosted by the Nantucket Historical Association, will take place on June 20 on Nantucket at the Whaling Museum. The second and third will be presented on Cape Cod: on June 21 at 5 p.m. at the Cape Cod Maritime Museum and on June 23 at 7 p.m. at the Falmouth Historical Society.

David Dowling has published in Leviathan and, in addition to ALA panels, has presented at the Society's panels at the Rome and Japan international conferences. His 2010 book, Chasing the White Whale, was reviewed in the Chronicle of Higher Education and on NPR.

Click here for more information on the Nantucket Historical Society Presentation.

Berkshire County Historical Society's 54th Annual Meeting
Pittsfield Country Club
Thursday, May 5, 2016

From the Bershire County Historical Society's announcement:

Join us at the Pittsfield Country Club for the Berkshire County Historical Society's 54th Annual Meeting - with poetry! Delicious food and drink in a beautiful setting.

It will be held Thursday, May 5. Cocktail hour at 5, dinner at 6, program at 7.

The Country Club was formerly a farm owned in the 19th century by the Melvill family (before the "e" was added to the name). Herman Melville visited his Uncle Thomas here as a boy, falling in love with the Berkshires. Here in 1850, Melville began writing "The Whale," which he finished at Arrowhead, re-titling it Moby-Dick.

After dinner and a brief business meeting, we will hear poetry from the new publication from Melville Press: Weeds and Wildings, chiefly: With a Rose or Two. Copies available at the meeting. But if you can't wait, copies may be purchased at the Arrowhead shop or ordered online from Melville Press.

It is a new comprehensive collection of Herman Melville's last poetry and short fiction – principally written during the final years of his life. It is Melville at his most romantic, sentimental and autobiographic; this book let him return in memory to his years at Arrowhead. It was a gift to his wife, Elizabeth Shaw Melville.

Other poetry, by actor/poet Steve Butler, and by writers working at an ongoing workshop at Arrowhead, will be also be featured.
The cost for the dinner at the Pittsfield Country Club is $35/person. Cash bar available. To make your reservations, e-mail melvilleATSYMBOLberkshirehistory.org, call 413.442.1793 x12, or mail a check to the Berkshire Historical Society, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield MA 01201

The image above is from a postcard in the collections of the Berkshire County Historical Society, early 20th century.

For more information visit http://tinyurl.com/hf5whsb