EPL On The Edge Speaker Series

The SpokenWeb Project: Archiving Literary Sound

Ever wonder what happened to all those reel-to-reel or cassette recordings made decades ago that were tucked into cardboard boxes? On university campuses across Canada, thousands of recordings were made when visiting authors performed their work. However, most of those recordings have never been made publicly available, until now. The Department of English and Film Studies at the University of Alberta has been a centre for literary activity and the organizer of countless literary events. Many of those events were captured on audio tape, and our collection includes hundreds of recordings available for streaming. These unique historical objects are not only important artifacts of cultural heritage, they’re also a valuable resource for scholars, teachers, students, and fans. Come join three members of SpokenWeb UAlberta’s research team to learn more about this exciting project.

Date/Time: Tuesday, March 26, 2024 | 7 - 8:30 p.m. | Online (Zoom)

Register here

About the Presenters:

Sarah Freeman is a BA student at the University of Alberta, with a major in English and a minor in Computing Science. She’s interested in all forms of literary audio, from poetry performances to podcasts. Presently, she’s working on a project which explores critical applications of audio annotation. As a SpokenWeb Research Assistant, she produces timestamps for audio files, conducts archival research, and writes exhibit articles for the website. 

Xuege Wu is an MA student in the Department of English and Film Studies at the University of Alberta. She conducts research in the field of early modern theatre. As a Graduate Research Assistant for the SpokenWeb Project, Xuege produces metadata for audio archives and curates two online exhibitions on the recordings from the Poet & Critic ’69 Conference held at the U of A. 

Catalina Torres-Benjumea, an Edmonton-based communications professional, has experience as a bilingual publisher and book editor focusing on Latin American markets. Currently pursuing an MA in Digital Humanities at the University of Alberta, as a Research Assistant at SpokenWeb, is actively exploring minimal computing as a decolonizing tool. She integrates her editorial skills and artistic passion, delving into critical cataloging and intersectional feminism to further decolonization efforts in Prison Literature. Her career spans roles as an independent editor, ghostwriter, and Senior Editor/Publisher.

 

On the Edge: Emerging Scholars is a speaker series featuring cutting edge research presented by emerging scholars and researchers from Edmonton's academic community. Presented in partnership with the University of Alberta's Faculty of Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies.

About
On The Edge is a speaker series featuring cutting-edge research presented by scholars and researchers from Edmonton's academic community. It is presented by the University of Alberta's Faculty of Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies (GPS) and hosted at the Strathcona Library Branch every month. Everyone is invited to attend these sessions.
Contact Us

To learn more and to express your interest in presenting for On The Edge, please contact:

Jay Friesen, Ph.D.
Educational Curriculum Developer
Faculty of Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies
Email: jayf@ualberta.ca