Programs

Writers on Walls and Fences

The neighbor in Robert Frost's poem "Mending Wall" states "Good fences make good neighbors." The narrator of the poem disagrees by saying, "Something there is that doesn't love a wall." Can both statements be true? What does a fence mean after it is built? What does a wall mean to those who want it built? What does it signify to those outside? What about "fences of the mind"?

Entwining tales of historic and literary fences, Peterson will lead an interactive discussion of Frost's poem and other works of literature by writers such as Walt Whitman, Thomas More, E. M. Forster, and Shakespeare encouraging new interpretations of these pieces.

Carrol D. Peterson is a retired professor of English from Doane College, Nebraska. He has published articles on Shakespeare, Homer, and many other poets. He has created other one-man shows about great literary figures, including Thomas Paine, Jack London, and James Thurber and has performed them throughout the country. He has a Ph.D. in English from the University of Arkansas.