Five English professors at Wichita State are aiming to give people an ‘in’ to classic literature with a new one-minute segment on KMUW, Wichita’s local NPR station.
“We have this idea of a program where a couple of English professors just do commentaries about books that we like,” associate professor and chair of the English department, Francis Connor, said. “Not the sorts of things we would do in a class, not the lectures. But, you know, ‘This play is really cool. Here’s why you should read it.’”
The show, fittingly titled ‘Why Should I Read This?’, will air every other Wednesday on Morning Edition starting Jan. 21. The hosts will rotate between Connor and other WSU English faculty members: Katie Lanning, Kerry Jones, Rebeccah Bechtold and Adam Scheffler.
Connor said the idea started between him and Lanning, who felt they could provide something new to KMUW’s audience.
“We feel we can hopefully offer them a new perspective,” Connor said. “That they’ll want to read something that might be something they haven’t heard of or something out of their comfort zone.”
He described the segment as an “elevator pitch” for classic literature.
“My goal is to just sort of give a very quick in,” Connor said. “You’ve heard these things about Ulysses, but here’s something that’s really interesting about it. Take that interesting fact and let it be your guide to opening the book up, and I think you’ll enjoy it.”
When the idea first came to KMUW’s program director, Fletcher Powell, he wasn’t sure if it would translate to radio.
“You think about whatever, Moby Dick or the works of Christopher Marlowe, you know, classic stuff,” Powell said. “There’s a reason everybody knows about it, but hasn’t read it, right? It strikes you as possibly being pretty dry.”
But he saved judgment until he read the first scripts, which he said were “really fantastic,” and prompted a desire to read the books.
“They did a great job,” Powell said. “I mean, surprise, surprise, English professors know how to write something. And it was really fun.”
“We have this perception that old stuff is, you know, not necessarily as much fun as new stuff,” Powell said. “Almost like it’s, you know, you’re taking your medicine, or you’re eating your own meal. And that’s wrong, it turns out, fortunately. But you know, that’s an understandable perception.“
For Connor, and other English professors involved, transitioning to radio can be intimidating, from writing a script to going into the recording studio.
“When I talk like a professor, it’s like long sentences and big words and, you know, digression,” Connor said. “But you can’t do that when you have like a minute to speak on radio.”
The first batch of scripts had a limit of around 200 words, Powell said, in order to fit in a one-minute segment.
“The craft that goes into that part is really difficult,” Connor said. “I was really afraid going into the booth recording.”
The professors received training from Lu Anne Stephens, assistant general manager of KMUW. Connor said Stevens told him to just be himself in the booth, not to worry about imitating a radio voice.
“And it worked, apparently, because they like my segments,” Connor said. “And I guess I did the promo that’s been airing for it. So yeah, it’s a little nerve-wracking.”
Overall, Connor hopes to break some of the stigma about English professors in an “ivory tower” with their “head in the clouds” and bring authenticity to their relationship with reading.
“We get into this because we love reading,” Connor said. “And I don’t want to lose touch with that. I want to share that. And I think speaking to the public, where I have to talk about these things like a human being instead of an academic, is a lot of fun. Because hopefully my trick, my enthusiasm transfers to the audience.”
As the show continues, Conner said to expect a lecture series that will premiere throughout the year. In the series, each of the five professors will give a 45-minute talk about a book featured on the show. To listen to the show, turn on the radio to 89.1 from 5 to 9 a.m. every other Wednesday, or tune in after it airs on the Morning Edition page, or the KMUW app. Individual episodes will also be available after they air under the podcast tab on KMUW’s website.
