The LAHS is hosting a lecture by British scholar Daniel Cordle Feb. 8 via Zoom. Courtesy/LAHS
LAHS News:
The Los Alamos Historical Society (LAHS) is hosting a lecture 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 8 via Zoom.
British scholar Daniel Cordle will be presenting live to Los Alamos (from across the ocean) his research on “Literary Los Alamos: The Manhattan Project in Fiction, Drama, Poetry, and on Screen.”
As well as being the subject of numerous histories, the development of the atomic bomb at Los Alamos has also fascinated writers and filmmakers, featuring in thrillers, literary fiction, historical fiction, science fiction, young adult literature, poetry, plays, films, and television dramas—and, interest is increasing.
More and more Los Alamos literature is being written and produced in the 21st century. This talk introduces that rich literary and cultural history. It asks why writers and other creative people continue to return to the Los Alamos of the 1940s, how they tell (sometimes change) the story of the beginning of the atomic age and what literary treatments bring to readers that more conventional historical approaches might miss.
How, the talk asks, do these nuclear origin stories explore human experience on the cusp of the atomic age?
Dr. Daniel Cordle is Associate Professor in English and American Literature at Nottingham Trent University in the UK. He works broadly on 20th and 21st century literature, but his research focuses particularly on nuclear literature and cultural responses to the atomic age. He has published extensively on nuclear literature and on the relations between literature and science.
His books include States of Suspense: The Nuclear Age, Postmodernism and United States Fiction and Prose (Manchester University Press, 2008) and Late Cold War Literature and Culture: The Nuclear 1980s (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017). He is currently working on a book about literary and other creative representations of the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos.
Visit Mesa Public Library in February to view a display featuring Los Alamos in fiction: graphic novels, movies, poetry, and novels. You may even check them out!
The Los Alamos Historical Society lecture series continues at 7 p.m. March 8 with a lecture from Loretta Hall on “Women in Space History: Examples from New Mexico.” Find details at www.losalamoshistory.org/events.
The lecture series is made possible by the generous sponsorship of Robin and Richard McLean.
The Los Alamos Historical Society preserves, promotes, and communicates the remarkable history and inspiring stories of Los Alamos and its people for the community, for the global audience, and for future generations. More information about the Historical Society can be found at www.losalamoshistory.org. Stay up to date with the latest news from the Historical Society by following @LosAlamosHistory on Facebook and Instagram. Their members make all their work possible, join them today at https://www.losalamoshistory.org/membership.html.
