Welcome back to The Invisible College, my series of literature courses for paid subscribers. The introduction to and schedule for the 2026 season is here. The 2024 and 2025 archives are here. This episode, of which the first 15 minutes are free, is about Anne Carson’s classic novel in verse Autobiography of Red. We discuss Carson’s evolving reputation from avant-garde to popular writer, her renegade classicists’ theorization of love, poetry, and the novel in her early treatise Eros the Bittersweet, and her narrative of a gay male artist’s romantic coming of age amid poetic language’s attempt to set being free in Autobiography of Red. Along the way, we query the political in Carson’s work, translator Emily Wilson’s recent critique of Carson, the meaning of cross-gendered gay romances written by straight authors, the potential of the verse novel as a genre, and more. Please like, share, comment, and subscribe! The slideshow corresponding to the episode can be downloaded behind the paywall:
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