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PAHS graduate and Ph.D. candidate presents paper at conference in Paris |
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Written by Julie Ciaramella
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Saturday, 16 August 2008 |
Corry Colonna recently presented a paper on the author Richard Wright at the International Richard Wright Centennial Conference at the American University of Paris. (Photo submitted)
PUNXSUTAWNEY — Corry Colonna, a Punxsutawney native, recently presented a paper at the International Richard Wright Centennial Conference at the American University of Paris.
Colonna works in administration at the University of Notre Dame and is a candidate for a Ph.D. in American literature at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He is the son of James and Ruth Colonna and a 1995 graduate of PAHS.
One-hundred scholars from around the world came to the conference in Paris, France, held June 19-21, 2008.
Richard Wright, an African-American author, found refuge in Paris from the prejudices of 1950s United States. Best-known for his autobiography, “Black Boy,” and his novel “Native Son,” Wright grew up in the southern United States, moved to Paris in 1946 and became a French citizen in 1947. His works were focused on issues of poverty and protest among northern and southern urban black Americans.
In addition to his books, Colonna said that Write also wrote many short stories and essays, often controversial. He also said Wright is now considered one of the best African-American authors of the 20th century, and Wright’s later works “have recently been reclaimed by American literary scholars.”
“He was an influence on other famous African-American writers like Ralph Ellison and James Baldwin,” Colonna said. “He married a white woman and had two children, but due to the discrimination that an interracial family would be subjected to in the United States, he moved to Paris. After leaving the United States, Wright continued to write and be critical of the Jim Crowe system, but lost a lot of favor with the American audience after he left the country.”
Colonna explained why he was drawn to Wright’s work.
“I find Wright to be an especially insightful writer,” he said. “Nestled throughout his work are interesting observations about social situations and real nuggets of wisdom, often written quite poetically, that speak to situations we all know and observe now as well as they did back when he wrote them. He was pretty controversial in his time. I find him quite clearly ahead of his time in his thinking.”
At the conference, Colonna and other participants attended a celebration of the author at the American Embassy in Paris and at the Pere Lachaise Cemetery, where famous Parisian artists are buried, including Wright.
At the four-day conference, Wright’s daughter, Julia, was present and able to share memories and insights into her father and his works.
“There are probably a dozen conferences on Richard Wright this year around the world,” Colonna said. “There was one in New York City, one in Spain, another in Japan, and those are just the larger conferences that I’ve heard of.”
Colonna was invited to submit scholarship to the conference in Spain, but cannot attend.
“The conference in Paris was considered the most important one, largely because of the involvement of Julia Wright,” he said.
Colonna explained the significance of Paris to Wright and the study of his literature.
“Wright loved the city and found great solace there, but never forgot the problems of his native country and wrote a lot of literature encouraging people to see the injustices inherent in Jim Crowe,” Colonna said.
Colonna’s paper, “Dissecting The Long Dream: The Revelations of Secrets on the Path to Manhood,” focused on one of Wright’s lesser-known novels, “The Long Dream,” the last completed novel published in Wright’s lifetime. He presented the paper on the final day of the conference, June 21.
“I am not solely a Wright scholar, but I am focusing on some of the central issues of masculinity that Wright often comments upon. I am a student who will undoubtedly write about him in my dissertation that I will be working on for the next couple years and felt quite fortunate to be included in the conference,” Colonna said.
Colonna said Wright’s work is still relevant today and has connections to topic on many Americans’ minds — especially with the presidential election less than three months away.
“In recent months, with the election season, race again has been a very interesting and important topic for America to debate. Wright stands out as one of those people who really can teach us all about where our country has been and where it needs to be in the future when it comes to racial discrimination. I’m drawn to these very contemporary connections between his work and the world we live in now,” he said.
Colonna also said his interest in literature and English came from the education he received at PAHS.
“Mr. Terry Fye and Dr. Gloria Kerr continue to be mentors and friends. In fact, I was in Dr. Kerr’s first Multi-Cultural Literature Class back in 1994, which really was where I started to be aware of authors like Wright and their struggles and writings,” Colonna said.
“That experience at PAHS really opened my eyes to a canon of literature that I was not, at the time, aware existed. I’ve only come to start reading Wright in the past few years as part of my graduate studies.”
Kerr said she is “humbled” that Colonna credits her with inspiring him to study multi-cultural literature.
“He’s a purpose-driven young man, a really good human being who loves to serve others,” she said. “When he finally earns his doctoral degree, I plan to be in the audience cheering for him. We’re great friends; we keep in contact via e-mail from time to time but we’re both very busy. When we manage to get together in person, we talk and talk and talk, about education, spirituality and politics. I dearly love him.”
Terry Fye, who taught Colonna at PAHS and to whom Colonna credits his interest and pursuit of a doctorate in English, said, “Corry was always an impressive young man with a wide range of talents and interests. His deep-rooted love of learning, his eagerness to explore ideas from literature, and his contagious enthusiasm of scholarly pursuits have served him well. It’s always gratifying to hear former students’ success stories.
“All of the traits Corry exhibited in high school have enabled him to succeed as admirably as I knew he would,” Fye said.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 18 August 2008 )
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