Over the past two years, Moravian’s relationship with N4 Artists Network has provided students access to world-class writers, few more accomplished than John Freeman, who visited on Friday, December 2nd. 

Mr. Freeman edits Freeman’s literary journal of new writing, and his own work has appeared in prestigious publications like the New Yorker and the Paris Review. His books include The Tyranny of E-mail, How to Read a Novelist, and Tales of Two Americas, a collection of texts dealing with the topic of inequality in the United States. Mr. Freeman has also published two books of original poetry, Maps and Wind, Trees. His nonfiction prose text Dictionary of the Undoing has been a central work for this semester’s Writing & Rhetoric courses for juniors. 

John’s talk touched on his personal and professional experiences over the past twenty years or so, especially since the dawn of the iPhone age. He recalled the sense of awe he had placing a cell phone call to his mother for the first time, and he asked his audience to consider their own uses and misuses of technology. Mr. Freeman delved further into cultural tendencies towards online immediacy rather than the more nuanced pleasures of long-form journalism, and he concluded his talk with a plea for Moravian students to create their own Dictionary revealing who they are and what they stand for. 

Though there wasn’t much time to respond thoroughly to Mr. Freeman’s prompt, several small groups responded with intriguing terms, including “Beauty,” “Friend,” “Respect,” and “Trust.” Hopefully, there will be time later this semester to continue working on this activity through advisory groups and in other contexts around campus. 

After his formal talk, John met with smaller groups of students in Gothic Fiction and Writing & Rhetoric courses. Even though he was not apprised of the subject matter beforehand, John’s experience as an editor helped him engage fully with seniors discussing Karen Russell’s collection of short stories, Orange World. Not only had John written a blurb published on the back cover of the book, he had also met with Russell in person only days earlier and was able to provide singular insights into the origin and execution of certain stories. How serendipitous indeed!  

Later in the afternoon, Mr. Freeman spent a class period working through the more problematic elements in Dictionary of the Undoing, and he spoke at length with juniors about their own academic and personal interests. Mr. Freeman’s visit speaks volumes about ongoing efforts to give students opportunities to engage with active artists beyond the Moravian community. We look forward to further engagement as we move into 2023!