The University of Virginia professor peers into Byron’s life and work through some of the poet’s most intimate correspondence.

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George Gordon Byron, Lord Byron, is perhaps the most celebrated Romantic poet. Troubled, handsome, sexually fluid, disabled, and transgressive, he wrote his way to international fame and scandal. Andrew Stauffer’s new compact biography, Byron: A Life in Ten Letters, spotlights moving and resonant letters written to friends, relatives, and lovers and traces the meteoric trajectory of a poet whose brilliance shook the world and whose legacy continues to shape art and culture.

This talk is presented in connection with the Library’s new exhibition Byron: A Life in Motion, on display in the Print Gallery on the third floor of the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building September 7, 2024–January 12, 2025.

To join | Please register for an In-Person Ticket. Doors will open around 1:30 PM. For free events, we generally overbook to ensure a full house. Priority will be given to those who have registered in advance, but registration does not guarantee admission. All registered seats are released shortly before start time, and seats may become available at that time. A standby line will form 30 minutes before the program.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Andrew Stauffer is Professor and chair of the English Department at the University of Virginia, where he specializes in nineteenth-century British literature. He is the author most recently of Byron: A Life in Ten Letters (Cambridge, 2024) and Book Traces: Nineteenth-Century Readers and the Future of the Library (Penn, 2021). In 2023, he published a new edition of Byron’s selected writings, co-edited with Jonathan Sachs for the Twenty-First Century Oxford Authors series. Stauffer has been the recipient of fellowships from ACLS, NEH, NYPL, Huntington, and BSA. He currently serves as the President of the Byron Society of America.

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ACCESSIBILITY

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Courtesy Andrew Stauffer