Harry Ransom CenterThe University of Texas at Austin

Orientalist Silents Film Series: The Thief of Bagdad FILM SERIES THURSDAY, JUNE 25, 7 P.M.

The Orientalist Silents Film Series continues as the Harry Ransom Center screens Raoul Walsh's film The Thief of Bagdad (1924), starring Douglas Fairbanks, on Thursday, June 25, at 7 p.m.

A thief falls in love with the Caliph of Bagdad's daughter. The Caliph will give her hand to the suitor who brings back the rarest treasure after seven moons, prompting the thief to set off on a magical journey while, unbeknownst to him, another suitor, the Prince of the Mongols, is not playing by the rules.

Seating is free, but limited.

VIEW TRAILER for this film on the Ransom Center's YouTube channel

The two silent films made about the life of Omar Khayyám are lost; in their place, these screenings offer a glimpse of Western attitudes toward an imagined Orient at the height of the Rubáiyát's fame.

This program is in conjunction with The Persian Sensation: The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám in the West, which is on display through August 2. The year 2009 marks the 150th anniversary of Edward FitzGerald's landmark translation of the poetry of the medieval Persian astronomer Omar Khayyám. These gemlike verses about mortality, fate, and doubt became an unprecedented popular phenomenon in England and America but have since fallen into obscurity. Featuring 200 items from the Ransom Center's extensive collections, the exhibition narrates The Rubáiyát's history through such items as Persian manuscripts, miniature editions, and illustrated parodies.

2009 Amon Carter Lecture:
"Frida Kahlo: Her Art and Life" LECTURE THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 7 P.M.

For the 2009 Amon Carter Lecture, Hayden Herrera, art historian and biographer of Frida Kahlo, presents "Frida Kahlo: Her Art and Life" on Thursday, June 18, at 7 p.m.

Herrera's talk interweaves Frida Kahlo's art and life, focusing on her childhood, the accident that turned her to painting, her tumultuous marriage to the muralist Diego Rivera, Rivera's influence and other sources of inspiration for Kahlo's art, Kahlo's childlessness, her frequent surgeries, and her passionate love for her native Mexico.

Seating is free, but limited.

Herrera is a New York-based art historian and critic whose first book, Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo, was published in 1983 and in 2002 became the basis for a major motion picture. Her second full-length biography, Arshile Gorky: His Life and Work, published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux in 2003, was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize. She has also written artist's biographies, including Mary Frank (1990), Matisse: A Portrait (1993), and Joan Snyder (2005). Herrera has curated a number of exhibitions, including a Frida Kahlo show that opened at the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art in 1978 and traveled for a year in the United States. More recently she co-curated the Frida Kahlo centennial exhibition that opened at the Walker Art Center in 2007 and traveled to the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Currently she is working on a biography of the sculptor Isamu Noguchi.

Herrera's talk is in conjunction with the homecoming of one of the Ransom Center's most famous and frequently borrowed art works, Frida Kahlo's Self-portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird (1940). Since 1990 the painting has been on almost continuous loan, featured in exhibitions at 28 museums in the United States, Australia, Canada, France, and Spain. The portrait is on display at the Ransom Center from May 5 through January 3, 2010.

Watch video documentary A World of Interest: Frida Kahlo's Self-portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird

Orientalist Silents Film Series: The Sheik FILM SERIES THURSDAY, JUNE 11, 7 P.M.

To kick off the Orientalist Silents Film Series, the Harry Ransom Center screens George Melford's film The Sheik (1921), starring Rudolph Valentino, on Thursday, June 11, at 7 p.m.

Sheik Ahmed (Valentino) desperately desires fiesty British socialite Diana, so he abducts her and carries her off to his luxurious desert tent-palace. The free-spirited Diana recoils from his advances and yearns to be released. Only after being kidnapped by desert bandits does Diana realize she has grown to love Ahmed.

Seating is free, but limited.

VIEW TRAILER for this film on the Ransom Center's YouTube channel

The two silent films made about the life of Omar Khayyám are lost; in their place, these screenings offer a glimpse of Western attitudes toward an imagined Orient at the height of the Rubáiyát's fame.

This program is in conjunction with The Persian Sensation: The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám in the West, which is on display through August 2. The year 2009 marks the 150th anniversary of Edward FitzGerald's landmark translation of the poetry of the medieval Persian astronomer Omar Khayyám. These gemlike verses about mortality, fate, and doubt became an unprecedented popular phenomenon in England and America but have since fallen into obscurity. Featuring 200 items from the Ransom Center's extensive collections, the exhibition narrates The Rubáiyát's history through such items as Persian manuscripts, miniature editions, and illustrated parodies.

Poetry on the Plaza: Surrealism in Latin America READING WEDNESDAY, MAY 6, NOON

The Harry Ransom Center presents the Poetry on the Plaza event Surrealism in Latin America on Wednesday, May 6, at noon.

Inspired by the return of Frida Kahlo's Self-portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird (1940), which has been on loan to museums around the world, the Ransom Center celebrates Latin American surrealist poetry.

The painting will be on display at the Ransom Center from May 5 through January 3, 2010.

Enrique Fierro, Associate Professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at The University of Texas at Austin, and Meredith Clark, Sean Manning, and Francisco Plata, graduate students in Hispanic Literature, read the poetry of Octavio Paz, Pablo Neruda, César Vallejo, and other Latin American surrealists.

Refreshments will be served at this free event.

In the Galleries: Frida Kahlo's Self-portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird OPENING TUESDAY, MAY 5, 10 A.M.–5 P.M.

The Ransom Center celebrates the homecoming of one of its most famous and frequently borrowed artworks, Frida Kahlo's Self-portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird (1940). The painting will be on display on the first floor through December 31, 2009.

Rubáiyát Film Series: The Keeper: The Legend of Omar Khayyám FILM SERIES TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 7 P.M.

The Rubáiyát Film Series continues with Kayvan Mashayekh's The Keeper: The Legend of Omar Khayyám (2005), starring Vanessa Redgrave and Adam Echahly, on Tuesday, April 28, at 7 p.m.

Kamran is a 12-year-old boy who is consumed by the responsibility of keeping the story of his heritage alive for future generations. Upon hearing a story from his dying brother, he travels from the United States to England and finally to Iran in search of the story of his ancestor, Omar Khayyám. The film takes the audience from the modern day to the epic past where the relationship between Omar Khayyám, Hassan Sabbah (the original creator of the sect of Assassins), and their mutual love for a beautiful woman separate them from their eternal bond of friendships.

Seating is free, but limited.

VIEW TRAILER for this film on the Ransom Center's YouTube channel

This program is in conjunction with The Persian Sensation: The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám in the West, which is on display through August 2. The year 2009 marks the 150th anniversary of Edward FitzGerald's landmark translation of the poetry of the medieval Persian astronomer Omar Khayyám. These gemlike verses about mortality, fate, and doubt became an unprecedented popular phenomenon in England and America but have since fallen into obscurity. Featuring 200 items from the Ransom Center's extensive collections, the exhibition narrates The Rubáiyát's history through such items as Persian manuscripts, miniature editions, and illustrated parodies.

Poetry on the Plaza: Marathon reading of Shake-speares Sonnets READING WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, NOON

In a special Poetry on the Plaza event in honor of National Poetry Month, the Harry Ransom Center presents a marathon reading of Shake-speares Sonnets (1609) on Wednesday, April 22, at noon.

Shake-speares Sonnets turns 400 this year, and to celebrate, Shakespeare scholars, poets, and others will read from Shakes-speares Sonnets and The Lovers Complaint.

Birthday cake will be served at this free event to honor William Shakespeare's birthday on April 23.

Focus on Photography: Peter Feldstein LECTURE THURSDAY, APRIL 16, 7 P.M.

In a Focus on Photography event, photographer Peter Feldstein discusses his new book The Oxford Project, a 20-year project photographing and interviewing the residents of Oxford, Iowa, on Thursday, April 16, at 7 p.m. at the Harry Ransom Center. A book signing follows.

In 1984, photographer Peter Feldstein set out to photograph every single resident of his town, Oxford, Iowa (pop. 676). He converted an abandoned storefront on Main Street into a makeshift studio and posted flyers inviting people to stop by. At first they trickled in slowly, but in the end, nearly all of Oxford stood before Feldstein's lens.

Twenty years later, Feldstein decided to do it again. He invited writer Stephen G. Bloom to join him, and together they went in search of the Oxford residents Feldstein originally shot in 1984. Some had moved. Most had stayed. Others had passed away. All were marked by the passage of time.

What emerges is a living portrait of Small Town, USA, told with the words and images of its residents—then and now—and textured by their own words. It tells the compelling story of one archetypal American community—its struggles, accomplishments, failures, and secrets—and how it has both changed and stayed the same over the course of the years.

Feldstein will do a reading from the book with a narrated slide presentation, followed by a question-and-answer discussion.

Seating is free, but limited.

Music From the Collections: The Rubáiyát SongbookPERFORMANCE THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 7 P.M.

As part of the Harry Ransom Center's Music from the Collections series, students and faculty from the Southwestern University Department of Music present The Rubáiyát Songbook, a concert of old and new settings inspired by the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám on Thursday, April 9, at 7 p.m. at the Ransom Center.

Songs from the Ransom Center's collection are featured, including works by James Rogers, Benjamin Richmond, Richard Fidler, Arthur Whiting, and Arthur Foote. These settings and song parodies, mostly dating from around the turn of the twentieth century, will be performed side-by-side with brand new musical settings of the Rubáiyát by Southwestern faculty and student composers, including Assistant Professor of Music Jason Hoogerhyde, Ashley Foster, Jeff Elliott, Stephanie Stewart, Natalie Moore, and Stephanie Taylor.

Performers include Associate Professor of Music Bruce Cain singing baritone; Matthew Dorris and Matthew Harper singing tenor; Katie de la Vega, Leslie Collie, Brooke Lyssy, and Emily Price singing soprano; Natalie Moore singing mezzo-soprano; Jeff Elliott on violin; Natalie Phillips-Perkoff and Stephanie Stewart on cello; Zoe Martin on harp; Assistant Professor of Music Anna Carney on clarinet; and Assistant Professor of Music David Utterback on piano.

Seating is free, but limited.

This program is in conjunction with The Persian Sensation: The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám in the West, which is on display through August 2. The year 2009 marks the 150th anniversary of Edward FitzGerald's landmark translation of the poetry of the medieval Persian astronomer Omar Khayyám. These gemlike verses about mortality, fate, and doubt became an unprecedented popular phenomenon in England and America but have since fallen into obscurity. Featuring 200 items from the Ransom Center's extensive collections, the exhibition narrates The Rubáiyát's history through such items as Persian manuscripts, miniature editions, and illustrated parodies.

Media sponsor: Classical 89.5 KMFA

Harry Ransom Lecture: Ed Ruscha LECTURE THURSDAY, APRIL 2, 7 P.M.

As part of the Harry Ransom Lectures, artist Ed Ruscha discusses his life and work on Thursday, April 2, at 7 p.m. at the AT&T Conference Center Amphitheatre, located at 1900 University Avenue.

Seating is free, but limited. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m.

Born in 1937 in Omaha, Nebraska, Edward Ruscha moved to Los Angeles in 1956 to attend the Chouinard Art Institute. He had his first solo exhibition in 1963 at the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles. He currently shows with the Gagosian Gallery in New York, Beverly Hills, and London.

Encompassing photography, drawing, painting, and artists' books, Ruscha's work has been the subject of retrospectives at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (1983), the Centre Georges Pompidou (1989), and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (2000). In 2001, Ruscha was elected to The American Academy of Arts and Letters as a member of the Department of Art. The following year a major exhibition of Ruscha's work opened in Spain at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia.

Leave Any Information at the Signal, a volume of Ruscha's writings, was published by MIT Press in 2002.

The Harry Ransom Lectures honor former University of Texas Chancellor Harry Ransom and highlight the Ransom Center's vital role in the University's intellectual and cultural life. The program brings internationally renowned writers, artists, and scholars to Austin for a public event and conversations with University students. The lectures are made possible by the generous support of the University Co-operative Society.

LEARN MORE about the Harry Ransom Lectures

AT&T CONFERENCE CENTER AMPHITHEATRE, 1900 University Avenue

Poetry on the Plaza: April Fools READING WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, NOON

The Harry Ransom Center presents the Poetry on the Plaza event April Fools on Wednesday, April 1, at noon.

Readers will share poetic humor, wit, and satire in an attempt to make the "cruelest month" a little easier to bear.

Refreshments will be served at this free event.

In celebration of National Poetry Month, please mark your calendars for an additional Poetry on the Plaza event on Wednesday, April 22, at noon, for a marathon reading of Shakes-peares Sonnets.

Curators' Tour of Fritz Henle: In Search of Beauty TOUR THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 7 P.M.

Roy Flukinger, the Ransom Center's Senior Research Curator of Photography, leads a free gallery tour of Fritz Henle: In Search of Beauty on Thursday, March 26, at 7 p.m.

On display through August 2, this retrospective exhibition celebrates the art of freelance photographer Fritz Henle (1909-1993). A contributor to such magazines as LIFE and Harper's Bazaar, Henle had a distinctive style that was characterized by a unique combination of the realistic and the romantic. Featuring more than 100 photographs, this exhibition encompasses a broad range of Henle's work, including images of 1930s New York, Mexico, and Paris; innovative nudes; and portraits of famous personalities.

VIEW SLIDESHOW of images from the exhibition

Also the exhibition book Fritz Henle: In Search of Beauty is available in the Ransom Center's Online Store

Rubáiyát Film Series: The Wind Will Carry Us FILM SERIES TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 7 P.M.

The Rubáiyát Film Series continues with Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami's The Wind Will Carry Us (1999) on Tuesday, March 24, at 7 p.m. at the Harry Ransom Center.

The Wind Will Carry Us explores life and death, modern and traditional customs, and local and global issues through the story of a group of journalists and production engineers who arrive in a Kurdish village to document the locals' mourning rituals as they anticipate the death of an elderly woman. The film is in Farsi with English subtitles.

Seating is free, but limited.

This program is in conjunction with The Persian Sensation: The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám in the West, which is on display through August 2. The year 2009 marks the 150th anniversary of Edward FitzGerald's landmark translation of the poetry of the medieval Persian astronomer Omar Khayyám. These gemlike verses about mortality, fate, and doubt became an unprecedented popular phenomenon in England and America but have since fallen into obscurity. Featuring 200 items from the Ransom Center's extensive collections, the exhibition narrates The Rubáiyát's history through such items as Persian manuscripts, miniature editions, and illustrated parodies.

VIEW SLIDESHOW of images from the exhibition

Harry Ransom Lecture: Azar Nafisi LECTURE THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 7 P.M.

As part of the Harry Ransom Center Lecture Series, Azar Nafisi, author of Reading Lolita in Tehran, discusses the power of literature to influence culture on Thursday, March 12, at 7 p.m. at the AT&T Conference Center Ampitheatre.

Her latest book, Things I Have Been Silent About, is a memoir about her mother. A book signing follows.

Seating is free, but limited. Doors open 30 minutes prior to the event.

Nafisi is best known as the author of the bestseller Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books, a portrait of the Islamic revolution in Iran and how it affected one university professor and her students. Reading Lolita in Tehran is an incisive exploration of the transformative powers of fiction in a world of tyranny.

Nafisi is a Visiting Professor and the director of the Cultural Conversations at the Foreign Policy Institute of Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C., where she is a professor of aesthetics, culture, and literature, and teaches courses on the relation between culture and politics.

Nafisi has written for The New York Times, Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal.

The Harry Ransom Lectures honor former University of Texas Chancellor Harry Ransom and highlight the Ransom Center's vital role in the University's intellectual and cultural life. The program brings internationally renowned writers, artists, and scholars to Austin for a public event and conversations with University students. The lectures are made possible by the generous support of the University Co-operative Society.

LEARN MORE about the Harry Ransom Lectures

AT&T CONFERENCE CENTER AMPHITHEATRE, 1900 University Avenue

Explore UT EXPLORE UT SATURDAY, MARCH 7, NOON–5 P.M.

Family fun inspired by the current exhibitions.

"The World Every Week: Picture Magazines and the Golden Age of Photojournalism." LECTURE THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 7 P.M.

In a Focus on Photography event, Alison Nordstrom, Curator of Photographs at the George Eastman House, presents "The World Every Week: Picture Magazines and the Golden Age of Photojournalism" on Thursday, March 5, at 7 p.m. at the Harry Ransom Center.

The lecture, which is held in conjunction with the photography exhibition Fritz Henle: In Search of Beauty, explores the historical and cultural context of Henle's work. Nordstrom discusses the era of great American photo magazines, such as LIFE and Look, and how these publications were made, marketed, consumed, and understood both then and now.

Seating is free, but limited.

On display through August 2, Fritz Henle: In Search of Beauty celebrates the art of freelance photographer Fritz Henle (1909-1993). A contributor to such magazines as LIFE and Harper's Bazaar, Henle had a distinctive style that was characterized by a unique combination of the realistic and the romantic. Featuring more than 100 photographs, this exhibition encompasses a broad range of Henle's work, including images of 1930s New York, Mexico, and Paris; innovative nudes; and portraits of famous personalities.

VIEW SLIDESHOW of images from the exhibition

Also the exhibition book Fritz Henle: In Search of Beauty is available in the Ransom Center's Online Store

Poetry on the Plaza: Persian Poetry READING WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4, NOON

In conjunction with the exhibition The Persian Sensation: The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám in the West, the Harry Ransom Center presents the Poetry on the Plaza event Persian Poetry on Wednesday, March 4, at noon.

English graduate student Yaser Amad, Austin musician and artist Koorosh Angali, Middle Eastern Librarian Robin Dougherty, and Michelle Kaiserlian, co-curator of The Persian Sensation, will perform selections by Omar Khayyám, Rumi, and other classical Persian poets.

Refreshments will be served at this free event.

The year 2009 marks the 150th anniversary of Edward FitzGerald's landmark translation of the poetry of the medieval Persian astronomer Omar Khayyám. These gemlike verses about mortality, fate, and doubt became an unprecedented popular phenomenon in England and America but have since fallen into obscurity. Featuring 200 items from the Ransom Center's extensive collections, the exhibition narrates The Rubáiyát's history through such items as Persian manuscripts, miniature editions, and illustrated parodies. The exhibition is on display through August 2.

Music from the Collections: Anthony Burgess PERFORMANCE THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 7 P.M.

In a Music from the Collections program, Alan Roughley, Executive Director of the International Anthony Burgess Foundation, and pianist Dianne O'Hara read and perform works by Anthony Burgess on Thursday, February 26, at 7 p.m. at the Harry Ransom Center.

Readings include segments of A Clockwork Orange, This Man and Music, Nothing Like the Sun, and more. The musical performance will feature Preludes 1-6, Tango, Rhapsody, 2 Preludes and Fugues, among others.

Few people realize that the author of A Clockwork Orange was also an accomplished and respected modern composer and visual artist. The Ransom Center holds a significant collection of Burgess materials, including manuscripts of some of the works to be performed.

Seating is free, but limited. The event is co-sponsored by the International Anthony Burgess Foundation.

LEARN MORE about the Ransom Center's music collections

Also, mark your calendar for the second program in the series on April 9, when students and faculty from Southwestern University perform songs featured in the current exhibition, The Persian Sensation: The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám in the West, and their own musical compositions inspired by the stanzas of The Rubáiyát.

Media sponsor: Classical 89.5 KMFA

Rubáiyát Film Series: The Lives, Loves, and Adventures of Omar Khayyám FILM SERIES TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 7 P.M.

The Harry Ransom Center kicks off the Rubáiyát Film Series with William Dieterle's The Lives, Loves, and Adventures of Omar Khayyám (1957), starring Cornel Wilde, on Tuesday, February 24, at 7 p.m.

Little is known about Omar Khayyám, the Persian poet and mathematician from the eleventh century, but The Lives, Loves, and Adventures of Omar Khayyám imagines what his life might have been like as he romances a sultan's bride and foils an assassination plot.

Seating is free, but limited.

The film series is held in conjunction with the Ransom Center's exhibition The Persian Sensation: The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám in the West, on display through August 2. The year 2009 marks the 150th anniversary of Edward FitzGerald's landmark translation of the poetry of the medieval Persian astronomer Omar Khayyám. These gemlike verses about mortality, fate, and doubt became an unprecedented popular phenomenon in England and America but have since fallen into obscurity. Featuring 200 items from the Ransom Center's extensive collections, the exhibition narrates The Rubáiyát's history through such items as Persian manuscripts, miniature editions, and illustrated parodies.

VIEW SLIDESHOW of images from the exhibition

Curators' Tour of The Persian Sensation: The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám in the West TOUR THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 7 P.M.

Molly Schwartzburg, the Harry Ransom Center's Curator of British and American Literature, and Michelle Kaiserlian, guest curator, lead a gallery tour of The Persian Sensation: The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám in the West on Thursday, February 19, at 7 p.m. Admission is free.

The year 2009 marks the 150th anniversary of Edward FitzGerald's landmark translation of the poetry of the medieval Persian astronomer Omar Khayyám. These gemlike verses about mortality, fate, and doubt became an unprecedented popular phenomenon in England and America but have since fallen into obscurity. Featuring 200 items from the Ransom Center's extensive collections, the exhibition narrates The Rubáiyát's history through such items as Persian manuscripts, miniature editions, and illustrated parodies.

The exhibition is on display through August 2.

VIEW SLIDESHOW of images from the exhibition

Harry Ransom Lecture: David Mamet LECTURE THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 7 P.M.

In the second Harry Ransom Lecture, playwright, writer, and film director David Mamet joins The University of Texas at Austin President William Powers Jr. for a conversation about The Spanish Prisoner (1997) and a screening of the film. The event takes place Thursday, February 5, at 7 p.m. at the Texas Union Theatre.

Seating is free, but limited. Doors open at 6:30.

David Mamet is the author of the plays Romance, Boston Marriage, Oleanna, Glengarry Glen Ross (1984 Pulitzer Prize), American Buffalo, The Old Neighborhood, A Life in the Theatre, Speed-the-Plow, Sexual Perversity in Chicago, Reunion and The Cryptogram (1995 Obie Award), and November. His films include The Postman Always Rings Twice, The Verdict, The Untouchables, House of Games (writer/director), Oleanna (writer/director), Homicide (writer/director), The Spanish Prisoner (writer/director), Hoffa, The Edge, Wag the Dog, The Winslow Boy (writer/director), Hannibal, State and Main (writer/director), and Heist (writer/director).

His most recent books include the acting books, True and False and Three Uses of the Knife, and Bambi vs. Godzilla, On the Nature, Purpose, and Practice of the Movie Business. His film Redbelt premiered in spring 2008.

David Mamet's papers are housed at the Ransom Center and will be available for research in spring 2009.

VIEW MAMET PAPERS IMAGE GALLERY

The Harry Ransom Lectures honor former University of Texas Chancellor Harry Huntt Ransom and highlight the Ransom Center's vital role in the University's intellectual and cultural life. The program brings internationally renowned writers, artists, and scholars to Austin for a public event and conversations with University students. The lectures are made possible by the generous support of the University Co-operative Society.

LEARN MORE about the Harry Ransom Lectures

TEXAS UNION THEATRE

Poetry on the Plaza: The Rossetti Circle READING WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, NOON

The Harry Ransom Center presents the first Poetry on the Plaza event of the spring, The Rossetti Circle, on Wednesday, February 4, at noon.

Poet, painter, and designer Dante Gabriel Rossetti was at the heart of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Rossetti and his circle sought to reform the arts, looking for inspiration in nature. They also "discovered" Edward FitzGerald's translation, the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, in 1861 and helped set it on its path to popularity.

Join readers Katharine Beutner, English graduate student and author of the forthcoming novel, Alcestis; Betty Sue Flowers, Director of the LBJ Library and Museum; Carol MacKay, Professor in the Department of English; and Molly Schwartzburg, Ransom Center Curator of British and American Literature. Enjoy listening to works by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Algernon Charles Swinburne, Robert Browning, Christina Rossetti, and William Morris and follow the remarkable path of FitzGerald's translation in the new exhibition The Persian Sensation: The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám in the West.

The year 2009 marks the 150th anniversary of FitzGerald's landmark translation of the poetry of the medieval Persian astronomer Omar Khayyám. These gemlike verses about mortality, fate, and doubt became an unprecedented popular phenomenon in England and America but have since fallen into obscurity. Featuring 200 items from the Ransom Center's extensive collections, the exhibition narrates The Rubáiyát's history through such items as Persian manuscripts, miniature editions, and illustrated parodies. The exhibition is on display through August 2.

"The Life and Legacy of Fritz Henle" PANEL TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 7 P.M.

In conjunction with the exhibition Fritz Henle: In Search of Beauty, photographer Fritz Henle's widow Marguerite and daughter Tina Henle discuss his life and legacy on Tuesday, February 3, at 7 p.m. at the Harry Ransom Center. The discussion is moderated by Roy Flukinger, the Ransom Center's Senior Research Curator of Photography and curator of the exhibition.

Seating is free, but limited.

This retrospective exhibition, opening on February 3, celebrates the art of freelance photographer Fritz Henle (1909–1993). A contributor to such magazines as LIFE and Harper's Bazaar, Henle had a distinctive style that was characterized by a unique combination of the realistic and the romantic. Featuring more than 100 photographs, this exhibition encompasses a broad range of Henle's work, including images of 1930s New York, Mexico, and Paris; nudes; and portraits of famous personalities.

VIDEO PREVIEW of the exhibition

Harry Ransom Lecture: Barry Unsworth LECTURE MONDAY, JANUARY 26, 7 P.M.

In the first of the Harry Ransom Lectures, writer Barry Unsworth discusses his new book, Land of Marvels, on Monday, January 26, at 7 p.m. at the Ransom Center. A book signing follows.

Barry Unsworth is a celebrated novelist who won the Booker Prize for Sacred Hunger, a novel about the eighteenth-century slave trade that is widely considered his masterpiece. Unsworth was a Booker Prize finalist for Morality Play and Pascali's Island, which was adapted into the acclaimed film starring Ben Kingsley and Helen Mirren. He was nominated for the Booker Prize for The Ruby in Her Navel. His other works include The Songs of the Kings, After Hannibal, and Losing Nelson. He lives in Italy.

Barry Unsworth's papers are housed at the Ransom Center.

The Harry Ransom Lectures honor former University of Texas Chancellor Harry Huntt Ransom and highlight the Ransom Center's vital role in the University's intellectual and cultural life. The program brings internationally renowned writers, artists, and scholars to Austin for public events and conversations with University students. The lectures are made possible by the generous support of the University Co-operative Society.

LEARN MORE about the Harry Ransom Lectures