Dr Michael J Sullivan (University of Oxford)
1 December 2022
5.30-6.30 GMT
ONLINE
[ezcol_1third] 
[/ezcol_1third] [ezcol_2third_end]
This is a FREE EVENT but BOOKING IS REQUIRED.
Closer to the event, we will send a Zoom link for you to access the live talk and participate in the Q&A.
Get your tickets on Eventbrite here.
Enquiries: contact@thebyronsociety.com [/ezcol_2third_end]
In this lecture, Dr Michael J Sullivan will explore the genesis of Byron’s most celebrated verse form: the ottava rima of Don Juan and Beppo. Tracing the form’s origins in Byron’s notebooks and early works, the talk will uncover how Byron’s ottava rima emerges from a sustained series of manuscript experiments that predate his arrival in Italy. By viewing ottava rima not as a striking of inspiration but as an extension of his previous artistry, the talk opens up an alternative history of Byron’s manuscript experiments: one that alters our views of the Whistlecraft-inspired ottava rima and sheds new light on Anglo-Italianate rhyme schemes in Romantic verse.
Dr Michael J Sullivan is Lecturer in English Literature at St Catherine’s College, Oxford, and General Editor of The Complete Works of Alfred Tennyson for Oxford University Press.