Date of Award
1-1-2015
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
M.F.A. in Creative Writing
Department
English
First Advisor
Derrick Harriell
Second Advisor
Ivo Kamps
Third Advisor
Beth Ann Fennelly
Relational Format
dissertation/thesis
Abstract
Lucy Negro, Redux is a collection of poetry that uses the lens of Shakespeare's "Dark Lady" sonnets to explore the way questions about and desire for the black female body have evolved over time, from Elizabethan England to the Jim Crow South to the present day. Research for the collection began with the discovery in early 2012 of a connection between the historical Elizabethan figure Black Luce--a notorious brothel owner--and William Shakespeare, by Professor Duncan Salkeld of the University of Chichester. A grant from the University of Mississippi yielded an opportunity for on-site research with Dr. Salkeld in order to explore Bridewell Prison records, now held in the Bethlem Hospital Archives in England. Galvanized by that research, the work evolved into a collection that experiments with form, dialect, the adoption of historical personas, and the very voices these personas project.
Recommended Citation
Williams, Caroline Randall, "Lucy Negro, Redux" (2015). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1256.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd/1256