Ezra Pound Center for Literature
at Brunnenburg Castle

July 2-28, 2012

LOCATION

Brunnenburg Castle is situated in the province of South Tirol or Alto Adige in northern Italy. It graces a hillside near the mountain village of Dorf Tirol, with spectacular vistas of the Adige Valley and the Italian Alps. South Tirol, which borders on Austria and Switzerland, is an area of both Germanic and Italian influences. The village of Dorf Tirol, for example, is predominantly Tirolean-Germanic in culture, whereas Italian influences are more evident just a few minutes down the valley in Meran. The South Tirol or Alto Adige province, together with the neighboring Trentino province, today forms an autonomous region within Italy that enjoys a high degree of administrative and cultural independence from Rome. Brunnenburg Castle, originally built about 1250, exists reconstructed today as a viable working estate complete with vineyard. It neighbors Schloß Tirol, the twelfth-century castle which gave the region its name, after the long line of nobility who resided there. The Counts of Tirol played a central role in the history and development of all of Tirol. Today, both Brunnenburg and Schloß Tirol are keepers of history, as well as centers of cultural and scholarly activity. Brunnenburg has been the residence since World War II of the de Rachewiltz family, relatives of the poet Ezra Pound, who also lived and wrote there. Pound's grandson, Dr. Siegfried de Rachewiltz, is Director of both Brunnenburg and Schloss Tirol. Himself an ethnologist, with degrees from Rutgers and Harvard, Dr. de Rachewiltz established a museum at Brunnenburg dedicated to the ceremonial and agricultural life of South Tirol. In addition, Brunnenburg also houses an extensive artifact collection from Africa, as well as a display of some of Pound’s original publications, papers, and personal items.

HOUSING, MEALS, AND COSTS

Students reside in a renovated 17th-century farmhouse within the castle compound which can accommodate up to 16 people in single and double rooms. Participants share bathrooms, laundry facilities, and a communal kitchen. Breakfast and lunch are provided Monday - Friday. One dinner a week is also included. Hotel accommodations for three nights with breakfast and one other meal are also provided on the field trip to Venice. For weekend meals and dinners not provided during the week, former participants have enjoyed purchasing supplies in the local markets for cooking and picnics, or discovering the local inns and restaurants.

Total Fees: $3995. Fees include all coursework, credit or non-credit, one or two classes. Room and some board is also included, as described above. Transportation and lodging on the Venice trip is also included. Transportation is not included.

PROGRAM STRUCTURE

This program is a 3 1/2-week poetry seminar/poetry workshop and immersion into Italian culture. It grew out of the Tirolean History classes taught at UNO's INTERNATIONAL SUMMER SCHOOL in Innsbruck, Austria. The Summer School has operated successfully for more than twenty-five years and has generated many productive and rewarding collaborations throughout Europe, of which the UNO EZRA POUND CENTER FOR LITERATURE is unquestionably one of the finest. The program provides the unusual opportunity for a limited number of undergraduates, graduate students and others interested in modern poetry and/or creative writing to write poetry and study the works of Ezra Pound at the historic castle in northern Italy where Pound lived late in his life and where his daughter, Mary de Rachewiltz, now resides.

PROGRAM FOCUS AND CREDITS

The program focus includes classroom instruction, a field trip to Venice and special events, including guest lecturers and poetry readings, as well as volunteer work days on the castle estate. Participating students can earn three or six semester credit hours in one or both of the following courses:

ENGL 4391 The Poetry of Ezra Pound (3 credits) and
ENGL 4163 Advanced Creative Writing: Poetry (3 credits) or

ENGL 6193 Intensive Poetry Writing: Graduate Level(3 credits)

Auditors interested in attending the courses on a non-credit basis are also welcome, as space permits. Transfer credit is possible through the Registrar’s Office of the University of New Orleans.

TENTATIVE PROGRAM SCHEDULE FOR ALL PARTICIPANTS

See the Course Outlines for details of course content and structure.

ELIGIBILITY AND ADMISSION

Undergraduates in good standing, graduate students and non-degree students are eligible to apply. Guest students from other institutions and continuing UNO students must be eligible to enroll for the next semester in good standing. All participants must be eligible to enroll in a 4000-level course (junior, senior status or graduate student) but can be admitted by permission on an individual basis. Foreign students, Americans abroad, teachers and dependents in Europe are also invited to apply. All admitted participants should come prepared to live and work in a rustic environment of close quarters and communal qualities, and be able to demonstrate good health and the ability to walk steep inclines on a daily basis. An official transcript of grades and credits earned will be furnished by the University of New Orleans for all students who fulfill course requirements.

FACULTY

University of New Orleans Research Professor John Gery directs the program. Professor Gery is the author of six books of poetry, including The Enemies of Leisure (1995), American Ghost: Selected Poems (1999), Davendport's Version (2003), and A Gallery of Ghosts (2006), as well as the critical work Nuclear Annihilation and Contemporary American Poetry: Ways of Nothingness (1996). His poetry and criticism have appeared in journals throughout the United States including Paris Review, Kenyon Review, Iowa Review, and others. Prof. Gery has directed the EZRA POUND CENTER FOR LITERATURE at Brunnenburg Castle since 1990. Mary de Rachewiltz is best known for her acclaimed memoir, Ezra Pound, Father and Teacher: Discretions ( New Directions, 1975, 2005), an autobiographical evocation and literary tribute to Pound's life and works, especially during the years of Italy under fascism. Ms. de Rachewiltz is also an internationally recognized translator of modern poetry. Among other translations, she has translated Pound's poetry, including all of his master epic The Cantos, from English into Italian. She has also published her own essays and poetry in Europe as well as in the United States, most recently Family Tree (1997), Whose World? (1998), and For the Wrong Reason (2002), collections of original poetry. She has lectured extensively about her father's works and has served on literary boards and panels throughout the world. In addition to participating in UNO's Summer Anthropology Program and the EZRA POUND CENTER FOR LITERATURE at Brunnenburg, she has taught in association with Guilford College, St. Andrew's College and other colleges and universities.The program will also feature special guests, to be announced.

RESPONSIBILITY:

The University of New Orleans or its agents assume no responsibility or liability in connection with the service of any train, vessel, carriage, aircraft, motorcoach or any other conveyance which may be used wholly or partly in the performance of their duties to the participants. Neither will they be responsible for any act, error or omission, or for any injury, loss, accident, delay, or irregularity which may be occasioned by reason of any defect in any vehicle, or through negligence or default of any company or person engaged in conveying the participants; or, for any hotel proprietor, or hotel service, or for any other person engaged in carrying out any services in connection with this program. In the event it becomes necessary or advisable for the comfort or well-being of the participants, or for any reason whatever, to alter the itinerary or arrangements, such alterations may be made without penalty to the operators. Additional expenses, if any, shall be borne by the participants. The right is reserved to cancel the program should conditions warrant, also to decline to accept or retain participants as members of the program. The airlines concerned are not to be held responsible for any act, omission, or event during the time passengers are not on board their planes or conveyances. The passenger contract in use by the airline concerned, when issued, shall constitute the sole contract between the airline and the purchaser of this program and/or passenger. Similar responsibility as noted above applies to all types of carriers, including car rental companies. All prices quoted for the UNO EZRA POUND CENTER FOR LITERATURE are based on international rates of exchange and are subject to change.

If you have any questions or would like assistance, please email us at:

John Gery, professor and onsite administrator of the Ezra Pound Center for Literature, and/or Bill Lavender, Coordinator of the Study Abroad Programs in Writing.

Enrollees: Click Here to report your itinerary

Program Fees and Costs

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