This event was originally published in The Rare Books & Manuscripts Library (RBML).
Over one hundred years ago, author and artist James Thurber walked the halls of The Ohio State University as a student. Much has been written about the childhood accident that caused the Columbus literary hero's vision to decline until he became blind in his 50s. Using materials from the James Thurber Papers, this event invites guests to explore how Thurber understood, wrote about and adapted to his vision loss throughout his life and career. Attendees will have the opportunity to investigate family albums, personal letters, original artwork, an expansive drafting process of popular written works, and much more that depict the imagined and lived experience of Thurber's blindness.
This Saturday Spotlight is curated by Department of English PhD student Sabrina Durso, whose research focuses on Disability Studies and Medical Humanities. Specifically, in literature, Sabrina exposes the falseness of stereotypes and poor representations of those with disabilities by exploring the lived experiences of disability in novels, memoirs, biographies and the archive.
