KNOW HOWE: Katie Peterson on Fanny Howe's "Manimal Woe"

Join us for the first meeting of this creative, catalyzing book club, dedicated to the work of Fanny Howe (1940-2025). In this session, Katie Peterson, author of FOG AND SMOKE (FSG, 2024), will lead a discussion of MANIMAL WOE (Arrowsmith, 2021). The last book published in Howe's lifetime, MANIMAL WOE is an undefinable meditation on ethics, American culture, politics, and family. The subject of the book is the very value of a human life: "I wanted to know why, when slavery formally ended, it went on....."

We will explore together the example and legacy of this work, whose way of proceeding reminds us of the capacity of art-making in a time when resistance is necessary. A gift to writers who resist genre distinctions and to all thinkers who grapple with urgent moral questions, MANIMAL WOE includes prose, Socratic questioning, poetry, and generous excerpts from the letters of her father Mark DeWolfe Howe (a renowned Harvard legal scholar and a dedicated lawyer for the NAACP). Audience members are encouraged to read the book in advance, if possible. This is an informal, generative discussion, and all ideas are welcome.



IN-PERSON ATTENDANCE: Woodberry Poetry Room, Lamont Library, Room 330. Free and open to the public. Seating is limited, arrive early if possible.


ONLINE ATTENDANCE: Livestreaming available via the WPR YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/WoodberryPoetryRoom


Please contact us with any questions about this event. We can be reached by email at cG9ldHJ5cm0gfCBmYXMgISBoYXJ2YXJkICEgZWR1 or via phone at (617) 495-2454. We encourage persons with disabilities who would like to request accommodations or have questions about physical access to contact Houghton Library at least three days in advance of the reading: aG91Z2h0b25fbGlicmFyeSB8IGhhcnZhcmQgISBlZHU=

Also check out other Arts events in Cambridge, Literary Art events in Cambridge, Meetups in Cambridge.