Reading Groups

Dante’s Inferno with Sheila Kohler

Seven Sessions Mondays, 6:00 pm EDT - 7:30 pm EDT June 3 to September 9, 2024

Online via Zoom

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The ‘With Book’ option includes the title required for this group with a 10% discount from our Bookstore.

Meeting Dates:
6/3, 6/17, 7/15, 7/29, 8/12, 8/26, 9/9
Online via Zoom

We will study the text of Dante’s Inferno, closely reading five cantos in advance of each meeting. We will delve into the use of language, explore the nuances of the characters of Dante and Virgil, and consider why this masterpiece continues to be read long beyond its creation in the 14th century. Why is this tale so timeless? What aspects keep generation after generation enthralled by this classic tale?

Participants should read the five first cantos to page 43 in advance of the first session.

Sessions I–VII: The Inferno of Dante translated by Robert Pinsky

What to expect from this reading group: An overall view of the work that is read at each meeting will be provided, followed by open and guided discussion.

Please Note: All virtual classes are recorded. Please click here for information about our recording policy.

Led by

Sheila Kohler

Sheila Kohler

Sheila Kohler is the author of three volumes of short fiction, a memoir, Once We Were Sisters, and eleven novels, amongst them, Dreaming for Freud and Open Secrets (Penguin). She has won numerous prizes including the O.Henry twice and been included in Best American Short Stories and Best American Mystery Stories. Her work has been published in thirteen countries. She has taught at Columbia, Sarah Lawrence, Bennington, and at Princeton in the creative writing program since 2008. She was a Cullman Fellow in 2002-2003. Her novel Cracks was made into a movie produced by Ridley Scott and recently brought out anew by Open Road.

Photo Credit: Beowulf Sheehan

About this series

Reading Groups

Whether you’re looking to catch up on great novels or you’re interested in exploring a new writer or literary period, our reading groups offer high-level literary discussion led by experts in the field.

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