Spanning fiction, non-fiction, poetry, films and even podcasts, the list points to humanity's empathy and resilience in the face of disease, faculty say.
Whether you’re looking for entertainment, historical information, or the excavation of deeper human truths, there’s something on the Elon English Pandemic Reading List to ignite your curiosity.
The list includes 63 works spanning literature, non-fiction, short stories, poetry, essays, plays — plus films and podcasts — that speak to the ways we respond to diseases and pandemics. Around a dozen Elon faculty collaborated on the eclectic list with attention to diverse tastes and themes, and highlighting many works already taught in Elon’s English courses.
Creatively categorized by Assistant Professor of English Dan Burns, the works are grouped into genres like “Contagion Classics,” “Cabin Fever Fiction” and “Disaster and Resilience.” (Yes, there’s also a section dedicated to ever-popular zombie apocalypse.)
For those without a ton of devoted reading time on their hands — we hear you, parents-turned-at-home-teachers — the list begins with “Quarantine Essentials” to arm you with at least one exceptional work to contextualize the current state of the world.
The project began as a department-wide Google doc, with professors adding favorite works and literature they’ve taught or knew would add perspective to this moment.
“We all have our go-to’s, the classics we teach because they stand the test of time,” said Senior Lecturer Paula Patch. “But we also all have favorites from our lives that spoke to us as readers.”
What emerges is a collection that doesn’t spare us from reality, but offers hope in human resilience, faculty said.
“The emotional resonance of reading is important,” said Assistant Professor of English Erin Pearson. “This list isn’t escape literature for the most part, but even though it may be ‘heavy,’ that’s not to say that there isn’t pleasure to be found in it. There’s a comfort, emotional relevance and hope.”
Burns reflected on the project through the lens of his course, The Apocalyptic Imagination, which includes readings of British literary critic Frank Kermode. Kermode suggests that because we can’t remember our births and can’t predict our deaths, we find ourselves perpetually “in the middle of things,” Burns said.
“This instability leads us to seek closure by projecting our anxieties about the future onto history in the form of fictions that we hope come close to predicting it. Kermode believed that literature of this kind provided consolation in the face of a great uncertainty, which I know everyone is struggling with these days.”
Along with their colleagues, Burns, Patch and Pearson are proud of the list. They feel it displays the depth of thought and instruction evident in Elon’s English courses and the value of thinking through events from different perspectives.
“When you are widely read across time and themes … you are able to see the human experience as something ever-changing and ever the same,” Patch said.
“There isn’t one way through this list,” Pearson said. “We hope people feel curious and find some comfort in this difficult time.”