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Frost Expert Publishes New Book
University of Southern Mississippi English professor Dr. Jonathon Barron isn’t just familiar with the life and works of famed American poet Robert Frost—he’s an expert.
Director of the Robert Frost Society and editor of The Robert Frost Review, Barron recently had his new book How Robert Frost Made Realism Matter published by University of Missouri Press. In it Barron argues for a new way of reading Frost as a poet who stands at the intersection of 19th-century romanticism and 20th-century modernism.
One of the most influential poets in American history, Frost is arguably best known for his works The Road Not Taken and Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening.
Barron asserts that while Frost used the values and techniques of 19th-century poetry, it was his commitment to realism that gave him popular as well as scholarly appeal. His book investigates the innovative poetry Frost published in popular magazines from 1894 to 1915, which laid the groundwork for his enduring legacy and launched a new realist tradition in American verse.
He credits his students at USM with giving him new insight into Frost’s work. “I never fully understood the realism of Frost’s poetry until I began teaching him here at Southern Miss,” Barron said.
“Fundamentally, Frost is a rural poet more than a New England poet–which is something I only understood deeply after teaching him to students in a rural state in the Deep South,” he said. “My students here are some of Frost’s most accurate readers.”
Barron is also the author of Roads Not Taken: Rereading Robert Frost. His expertise and research also include American Literature, American poetry and Jewish-American literature. For more information about Barron’s work and the USM Department of English, visit https://www.usm.edu/english/faculty/jonathan-barron.
About The University of Southern Mississippi
Founded in 1910, The University of Southern Mississippi is a comprehensive doctoral and research-driven university with a proud history and an eye on the future. A dual-campus university, Southern Miss serves students on campuses in Hattiesburg and Long Beach, in addition to five teaching and research sites in Mississippi and through Online at Southern Miss. Since 2006, Southern Miss students have collected seven Goldwater Scholarships, three Truman Scholarships and 14 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships. Our Center for Undergraduate Research affords our students meaningful research opportunities, and as a proven leader in innovation, we conduct transformative research that translates into real-world solutions. As one of a select number of institutions in the nation accredited in art, dance, music and theatre, we are a haven for creativity and artistic expression. In the classroom or lab, on the playing field, or in the performance hall, we strive to have a positive impact not only on our students, but also the world around us. Further information is found at www.usm.edu.
