Imagined Histories

In the first event of the series ‘Living Archives,’ Green College writer in residence Theresa Muñoz will be in conversation with novelist Madeleine Thien, discussing how to weave archives and research materials into poetry and fiction. Theresa Muñoz’s latest poetry collection Archivum explores objects belonging to writer Muriel Spark, actor Maggie Smith, the 19th century slave owner’s daughter Eliza Junor, and psychotherapist Marie Battle Singer. Madeleine Thien’s recent novel The Book of Records merges the lives of philosopher Hannah Arendt, poet Du Fu, and scholar Baruch Spinoza into a narrative about father and daughter on a shore-lined migrant compound known as ‘the Sea’.

Anchored by themes of migration, displacement, and legacy, the authors will discuss the challenges and joys of archival research and how it shapes one’s creative practice.