Work as a Struggle and as a Meaningful Experience in the Writings of Carl Sandburg and Studs Terkel
This program of readings and commentary will employ the poetry of Carl Sandburg and/or the prose of Studs Terkel to examine issues such as struggle, equity, identity, and the meaning of the American work experience. No American poet has focused more intently on workers than Sandburg, in poems like “A Teamster’s Farewell,” “They Will Say,” “Fish Crier,” “Ice Handler,” “Child of the Romans,” “Working Girls,” “Washerwoman,” “Work Gangs,” and many others. And no American prose writer has explored more directly or effectively the broad implications of the work experience for Americans than Terkel, especially in his bestseller Working. (Organizations that book the program can choose to have the focus on either of the two celebrated Illinois writers if they do not want a program devoted to both of them.)
John Hallwas holds a PhD from the University of Florida and recently retired from Western Illinois University. He has received a number of teaching and service awards, has written more than a dozen books and scores of articles on Illinois history and literature, and is also the President of the Macomb Area LIFE Adult-Education Program.
