When Swift’s speaker sings in ‘cardigan’ that the object of the song ‘tried to change the ending, Peter losing Wendy’, she encourages us to go back and take a closer look at a story that may have been a staple of our childhoods. The line is deeply ambiguous, and has always puzzled me. It’s unclear whether he tried to change the (happy) ending, making it so that Peter instead lost Wendy; whether he tried and failed to change the (unhappy) ending of Peter losing Wendy; whether he tried to change the (unhappy) ending, but Peter lost Wendy anyway. Is Peter losing Wendy the result of his actions, or the fate he tried to change? [Click above image to read on.]
The Taylor Seminars: ‘Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus’
This week, I joined Hannah Chao and Exquisite Williams on their fantastic podcast, The Taylor Seminars. Each week, Hannah and Exquisite do a deep dive into a Taylor track, looking at the lyrics in forensic detail. Since I also run Taylor seminars, of a slightly different sort, this was a perfect match! Hannah and Exquisite… Continue reading The Taylor Seminars: ‘Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus’
The History Of Man: A Brief Analysis
For her creative assignment in English Literature (Taylor's Version), one of my students investigated all the literary references in Maisie Peters' 'The History Of Man'. To celebrate Maisie supporting Taylor at the Eras tour tonight, please enjoy this brief dive into Maisie's beautiful lyricism! Click the link below to see the full video! https://www.tiktok.com/@swifterature1989/video/7404962885304208672
Coming Soon: My First Taylor Swift Book!
Straight from the tortured poets department, I am absolutely ecstatic to announce something out of my Wildest Dreams: my first TAYLOR SWIFT BOOK will be published in January! It's a collection of 46 songs - from Debut to TTPD - with annotated lyrics and accompanying literary analysis, taking a super deep dive into the poetic… Continue reading Coming Soon: My First Taylor Swift Book!
Creative assignment: An Architecturally-sound replica of the Lover House
As part of their creative assignment for English Literature (Taylor's Version), one of my students made a replica of Taylor's famous Lover House, peopled with several special figures from the worlds of literature and music. Click the above image to read all about it in their own words!
What’s it like to study English Literature (Taylor’s Version)?
For an answer to that question, please enjoy this incredible graphic novel by two of my ridiculously talented students! Thank you Chiara and Anaya. Click above image to read more!
The Tortured Poets Department: a Curated Reading List, Song by Song
To cater to popular demand (two people asked me after a talk), I present to you a Taylored reading list inspired by every single song on The Tortured Poets Department, 'The Anthology'. Yes, you can find TTPD-inspired reading lists elsewhere (I like this one, from the Rogers Public Library in Arkansas), but I've tried to go beyond the obvious (Dylan Thomas) and select appropriate reading recommendations for each song, plus a general list based simply on vibes (e.g. Dark Academia), which you can find at the bottom. I'll keep this updated as I think of more recommendations, and please do add your own recs in the comments!
Taylor ‘under the influence’? Initial thoughts on TTPD
In this short video, I share my initial impressions of The Tortured Poets Department - namely, that it is Taylor's most intertextual album yet, peppered with countless allusions to people, places, music, art, poetry - and what this might mean in the wider context of her music and career. Click the image above to watch!
Is Taylor Swift a poet? Yes. Is that the wrong question to ask? Also yes
With less than 24 hours to go before perhaps the biggest release in music history - Taylor Swift's hotly-anticipated eleventh album, The Tortured Poets Department, already downloaded over 200 million times after being leaked the day before the official launch - the requests have started to roll into my inbox from journalists, all asking a variation on the same question: does this mean that Taylor Swift is, like...a poet? An actual...poet? [Click above image to read more]
Why do we need feminism? Thoughts from English Literature (Taylor’s Version)
As part of our session on feminism, writing and power, we looked at Mary Wollstonecraft's seminal 'Vindication of the Rights of Woman', a 1792 treatise that argued for the importance of women's education during a period where it was habitually denied. Expected to be little more than delicate parlour ornaments, women were not seen as worthy recipients of the kind of education offered to men - a state of affairs which Wollstonecraft laments, while pointing out its idiocy (surely men would prefer a wife with whom they can hold a conversation). As a thought experiment, I asked my students: 'If you could write a modern-day "Vindication of the Rights of Woman", what feminist - or gender-related - issue would you focus on, and why?' Here are some of the responses - you can also see a word cloud of the most frequently used terms above. Click on it to read more.
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