How literature can help us develop empathy | Beth Ann Fennelly | TEDxUniversityofMississippi
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Published 2020-05-15
Beth Ann Fennelly, Poet Laureate of Mississippi, teaches in the MFA Program at the University of Mississippi, where she was named Outstanding Teacher of the Year. She’s won grants from the N.E.A., the United States Artists, and a Fulbright to Brazil. Her work has won a Pushcart Prize and three times been included in The Best American Poetry Series. Fennelly has published three poetry books: Open House, Tender Hooks, and Unmentionables, and a book of nonfiction, Great with Child, all published with W. W. Norton. A novel she co-authored with her husband, Tom Franklin, called The Tilted World was published by HarperCollins. Her sixth book, Heating & Cooling: 52 Micro-memoirs, recently published by W. W. Norton, was named an Atlanta Journal Constitution Best Book of 2017 and a Goodreaders Favorite for 2017. Fennelly and Franklin live in Oxford with their three children. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx
All Comments (21)
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For me, reading means living and experiencing another person's life,and escaping my reality
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"We read to know we are not alone."
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"READING LITERATURE, HELPS US READ THE ROOM " !!! Whoa.
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"medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for." - DEAD POET'S SOCIETY.
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She has an exceptionally clear pronunciation. My money is on her habit of reading !
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I should thank my mom for showing me the joy of reading from an early age
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You live multiple lives when you read. I've manned the barricades in Paris, hidden from hired assassins in Seville, kidnapped a tourist in Florida, danced with an officer in Moscow...
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Beth Ann is a national treasure. A deeply important voice in America, whose wisdom becomes more relevant in weird times.
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Go home, turn OFF the phone and turn ON the Novel. I absolutely love it.
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It's amazing how you read a book and leave your surroundings. One of the best feelings in the world..!
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I think that literature and art in general are a way of connecting ourselves to something that unites all humanity. I'm not particularly spiritual, but there's something to art that makes me question myself and wonder if there's something higher that we can reach
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The mind reading we do when we think about a character educates our emotional intelligence... Reading the mind in the eyes test Reading literature makes us more empathetic Reading improves our social awareness
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Thank you, Beth. Love literature.
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Read because it’s GOOD! READING IS GOOD!
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I’ve been a reader of books since childhood. I was a quiet kid who was more engaged in a good book than in conversations. Often times, I never knew what to say. When reading a book, I always felt as though I was transported to a different world, one that was more interesting than the one I was living in.
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I can tell that if I don’t read for a long time, I can feel that my reading skill decreases tremendously.
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As an English major, I love this!
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Growing up, reading was my escape. I could immerse myself in the world or life of anybody. I could laugh and cry and feel things that made my world seem a lot less intimidating. I'm grown now and I still read at least 2 books a week.
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Why did this feel more like reading than like listening to a speech ? 😍
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Great speech. Literature makes for a more harmonious world. *thumbsup
