Journalism and 18th Century Letter Writing
Over the summer of 2020, I worked with Dr. Jessica Richard at Wake Forest University to catalog the letters of Maria Edgeworth, a prolific Anglo-Irish novelist of adults and children’s literature. Edgeworth was one of the first realist writers in children’s literature and was a significant figure in the evolution of the novel in Europe.
I worked on transcribing, coding, and sorting the letters electronically into the website designed by Richard and her team.
During that time, I worked on an individual project exploring the relationship between journalism and early letter-writing. My thesis investigated how news has, and always will be, a cultural phenomenon unparalleled by any other writing style.
I then presented my findings to the URECA Fellowship and my peers in the program.