Dr. Fred Pestello, President | St. Louis University
Dr. Fred Pestello, President | St. Louis University
Jonathan Sawday, Ph.D., recently received the James Russell Lowell Prize for his book "Blanks, Print, Space, and Void in English Renaissance Literature: An Archaeology of Absence." The award is given by the Modern Language Association (MLA) to an outstanding literary or linguistic study. This marks Sawday as the 55th recipient and the first from Saint Louis University (SLU).
During a celebratory event on January 15, SLU President Fred P. Pestello, Ph.D., commended Sawday's achievement. “This is an extraordinary achievement,” Pestello stated. “Truly, this is something special. When Jonathan talks about this truly magnificent book, he often quips that he wrote 600 pages about nothing. It’s a very good line, but this achievement signifies quite a lot more than nothing.”
Sawday shared insights into his work and its inspirations at the event. He cited the series finale of "The Sopranos" as a key influence on his exploration of voids in literature. “I was watching back in the U.K. and I thought it was just amazing,” Sawday remarked.
His book delves into how blank spaces have evolved over time and their impact on print history during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Sawday explained that early printing lacked spaces between words, which led to reading aloud until printers began separating words with spaces.
Sawday also highlighted how blank spaces could convey stories independently. He referenced an early map of North America with empty areas that were marketed to Europeans as vacant land ready for settlement. “America is being shown as vacant, empty,” he noted.
Additionally, Sawday discussed how modern tax forms relate to historical documents through what he calls the "rhetoric of the blank." He described how writers used blank spaces creatively in literature to engage readers visually and emotionally.
Sawday addressed topics such as censorship and race in relation to print technology before concluding with a Q&A session led by Brian Yothers, Ph.D., chair of SLU's English Department.
He expressed gratitude towards the SLU community for their support in making his book possible.
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