Tuesdays from 5:30-7pm beginning September 9th for 8 weeks
$10 for members
$35 for non-members
Price includes a copy of Moby Dick (Oxford World Classics, ISBN: 9780199535729)

In chapter 79 of Melville’s masterpiece, Moby Dick, Ishmael tells us, “I try all things; I achieve what I can.” Of course, the word try also refers to the process of rendering oil from fat by heat, which is to say that trying is the economic purpose of a whaling voyage. The word render is in surrender, a word that floats through Moby Dick like an alluring ghost. 

Language leaves trails we can follow if we are up to it. Are we? Moby Dick is expansive; it is many different kinds of books, and it goes all over the world. We might find ourselves in there if we try. In this class, we will read Moby Dick together for the first time (as every reading is a first reading) achieving what we can.  

Note on the text (for those who have already own a copy of Moby Dick): Because this is a facilitated discussion, it is important to have everyone working from the same text with the same page numbers and the same notes, and in particular that everyone have the text of Melville's letters to Hawthorne, which are included in Oxford World Classics edition. 

Seth Landman lives in Northampton, MA. He received his PhD in creative writing and literature from The University of Denver, and is the author of a book of poems, Sign You Were Mistaken (Factory Hollow, 2013). He is a lifelong student and scholar of Herman Melville.

Refund Policy

Please note that all education fees include a non-refundable enrollment deposit of 10% of the total fee that will be deducted from your refund if you sign up for, then drop, a workshop (before it begins). For LABS, there is non-refundable deposit of 10% of the total fee plus cost of materials. 

So, for example, if you sign up for Creative Writing and pay a $200 class fee, only to realize you were selected as a contestant in newest season of The Bachelor and shouldn’t have signed up after all, Flying Object will refund you $180 of your tuition payment.

Once the class begins, the class fee is non-refundable.