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The Pit and the Pendulum: Edgar Allen Poe & Liverpool

A single session on campus on Saturday 21 March, 10am - 4pm

Overview

It is a truth seldom acknowledged that the 19th Century’s greatest exponent of Gothic fiction and tales of terror was once a resident of the bustling Port of Liverpool for several weeks in the summer of 1815. The future author of nighttime terribilita was suitably impressed as a child with the enormity of the docks, the smells of the Mersey and the piquant decrepitude of the homeless. This course offers an opportunity to experience the Liverpool that a young Poe knew, and recalled to mind several years later as a young writer of fiction when embarking upon his ‘Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket’. The adult Poe’s influence on writers of Gothic fiction need never be undersold; this influence appears to have included a number of Liverpool writers, critics and visual artists, including the tragic James William Carling. This course will intrigue anyone with an interest in Liverpool, art, literature social history and darkness.

Syllabus

Part 1. Introduction – Poe’s Liverpool, Castle Street/Docks etc 1814

Part 2. Arthur Gordon Pim of Nantucket

Part 3. International success/Editions/The Gothic/Liverpool critical responses

LUNCH

Part 4. James William Carling & The Raven (pub)

Part 5. TBD – Includes a guided tour through ‘Poe’s Liverpool – including Castle Street, St Nicholas Churchyard, George’s Dock Gate - Conclusion

Course lecturer

Dr Lee Kendall was born in Liverpool in 1974 and earned his BA (Hons) in History of Art at University of Leicester in 1997 before going on to complete a PhD in the same subject at Liverpool John Moores University in 2006. An independent art historian with a particular interest in all things Liverpool related, his publications include “Being for the Benefit of… Beatles Art in Liverpool” (2012). He has been part of the front of house team at Tate Gallery, Liverpool since 2009 and has lectured for the University of Liverpool's CE Department since 2019

Course fee

  • Standard fee: £55