June

I am very happy to share the June episode - and once again, just in time! I spoke with Dr Claire Eager - assistant professor of early modern literature at the College of Wooster, in Ohio - about this eclogue in a wonderful conversation that took us through Chaucer and Milton and “the emotionally inaccessible Paradise” and Parnassus and belief and the ethics of despair…

Big news! As you’ll see, I now have a delightful logo and thumbnail for this podcast, the work of the always-inspired artist and designer Ella Mahony, whose work you can see more of here. This podcast is currently available on Spotify here, and Apple podcasts, and I am working on the other various apps. Please share with anyone you think would like it, and contact me if you have suggestions.

Some of the sounds and snippets of music included in this episode come from soundchecks and performances I stumbled on in the Jardim das Amoreiras in Lisbon on June 13th, during a festival in celebration of the artist Vieira da Silva and the end of fascist rule in Portugal in 1974. The choir is Coro Da Achada; the guitar and singer is Daniel Freire and friends. See the program here: https://fasvs.pt/eventos/vieira-da-silva-em-festa-2024/

Thank you to Verity Spott for describing the June woodcut, to Claire Eager for a fascinating conversation, to Joseph Minden for playing the part of Colin, to Katie Stone for insights into Victorian fairy-lore, to Dorothy Landy for reading out the plaque about the Essex witches, to N.L. Chaundler for her poetic and diaristic response to the June eclogue, to the array of musicians that I stumbled upon on the streets and in the squares of Lisbon, soundchecking, rehearsing and singing to celebrate, among other things, the end of the fascist regime in Portugal 1974, to the artist and designer Ella Mahony for the most beautiful new logo and thumbnail for this podcast, please check it out if you’ve missed it, and to Femi Oriogun-Williams for mixing and mastering, and for making the theme music, it has got a lot of love from listeners already. Please send me your own sounds, suggestions and feedback at kma30@sussex.ac.uk with podcast in the subject line.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit occasionoftheseason.substack.com