William S. Burroughs, D. H. Lawrence, Henry Miller. These writers have come to occupy the core of our 20th-century literary canon, but American readers might have missed their works completely were it not for one unwavering advocate. Chicagoan Barney Rosset and his fledgling Grove Press led the charge against censorship in the 1960s, helping to redefine the parameters of obscenity and bring this essential and provocative literature to college classrooms and the greater American reading public. Loren Glass, University of Iowa associate professor of 19th- and 20th-century American literature and cultural studies, recounts Rosset’s campaign and explores how the literary avant-garde joined the mainstream.
Read the related blog by Marlee Prutten, CHF Education Fellow.
This program is generously underwritten by Rose L. Shure and is presented in partnership with the American Library Association and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the Obermann Center for Advanced Studies at the University of Iowa.
