Timothy Billings
Professor of English
- Office
- Axinn Center 300
- Tel
- (802) 443-2550
- tbilling@middlebury.edu
- Office Hours
- On leave 2024-2025
Timothy Billings is Professor of English and Member of the Comparative Literature Program at Middlebury College, where he offers a range of courses including early modern English poetry and dramatic literature, Chinese poetry, slam poetry, creative writing, and translation studies. He holds advanced degrees in Fine Arts (M.F.A. 1992) and English Literature (M.A. 1994, Ph.D. 1997) from Cornell University, and in Sinology (M.A. 2007) from the School of Oriental and African Studies. He is also an alumnus of the Stanford Center Inter-University Program in Chinese Language and Literature (now ICLP) in Taipei. He has translated and annotated three bilingual critical editions all using research on original manuscripts: Victor Segalen’s 1914 collection of French and Chinese poems Stèles /古今碑錄 (Wesleyan UP, 2007), with Christopher Bush, which received the Modern Language Association’s Prize for Best Translation of a Literary Work; Matteo Ricci’s 1596 treatise Jiaoyou lun 交友論, the first work written in Chinese by a European, On Friendship: One Hundred Maxims for a Chinese Prince (Columbia UP, 2009); and Ezra Pound’s 1915 collection of Chinese translations, Cathay: A Critical Edition (Fordham UP, 2018), which received the Ezra Pound Society Book Prize, and was shortlisted for the Poetry Foundation’s Pegasus Award for Poetry Criticism, and the Modernist Studies Association’s Book Prize for an Edition, Anthology, or Essay Collection. He has also collaborated with Yan Zinan 顏子南 on the translation and annotation of a selection of poetry by the late Ming philosopher Li Zhi 李贄 (1527-1602) in A Book to Burn and a Book to Keep (Hidden): Selected Writings (Columbia UP, 2016); and they are currently collaborating on a bilingual edition of the complete poetry of the Yongzheng 雍正 Emperor (1678-1735). His newest book, Twenty-Nine Goodbyes by Li Bai is an introduction to the Tang-dynasty lüshi 律詩, a kind of Chinese “sonnet” in form and function, which will be released by Fordham University Press in the fall of 2024. His research and teaching have been supported by grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation, and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Courses Taught
CMLT 0317
Lost & Found in Translation
Course Description
Lost and Found in Translation
In this course we will explore the philosophical and linguistic questions raised by translingual discourse through a survey of the most important theoretical writings on translation as we compare multiple translations of the same originals, including some recent experimental writing as well as selections from such classics as the Psalms, the Illiad, the Tao Te Ching, Catullus, Li Bo, Rumi, Clément Marot, Eugene Onegin, and the One Thousand and One Nights. We will discuss such questions as: How does language shape thought? How does culture shape language? Is there anything unique about translating sacred texts, poetry, dead languages, or non-alphabetic languages? 3 hrs. lect/disc. (Formerly ENAM 0317)
Terms Taught
Requirements
CRWR 0560
Current
Upcoming
Special Project: Writing
Course Description
Special Project: Creative Writing
Approval Required.
Terms Taught
CRWR 0701
Current
Upcoming
Senior Thesis:Creative Writing
Course Description
Senior Thesis: Creative Writing
Discussions, workshops, tutorials for those undertaking one-term projects in the writing of fiction, poetry, or creative nonfiction.
Terms Taught
ENAM 0103
Reading Literature
Course Description
Reading Literature
Please refer to each section for specific course descriptions.
Terms Taught
Requirements
ENAM 0325
Tang Poetry/American Poetry
Course Description
Tang Poetry / American Poetry
Amy Lowell and Ezra Pound, rival founders of the Imagist poetry movement a century ago, both published influential translations of Tang-dynasty lyrics, even though neither one knew a word of Chinese. In this course, we will not only study their accomplishments in context, but go a step further to begin learning how to read and write the most commonly used characters in Tang poetry so that we can parse a selection of the best poems in the original as we explore such topics as the differences between Chinese and European poetics, theories of translation and intercultural adaptation, and Orientalist fantasies of the ideogram. No knowledge of Chinese is necessary. 3 hrs. lect./disc.
Terms Taught
Requirements
ENAM 0328
England's Ovid: Font of Myth
Course Description
England’s Ovid: Grabbing Back the Myth (I) (Pre-1800)
In this course we will read Ovid’s Latin compendium of foundational mythical stories, the Metamorphoses, in two important early modern English translations: 1) the 16th-century version by Arthur Golding (the very one that Shakespeare read), which Ezra Pound called “the most beautiful book in the English language”; and 2) the 17th-century version by George Sandys, which contains allegorical commentaries and elaborate synoptic engravings. We will discuss these myths with an emphasis on gender politics and oral storytelling, and sometimes discuss how they reemerge in English literature. We will also examine a rare first edition of the Sandys edition (1623) which is owned by Middlebury College’s Special Collections, in addition to a modern annotated edition. The material for the course contains literary and graphic depictions of sexual violence, which will be critiqued from an unapologetically feminist perspective.
Terms Taught
Requirements
ENAM 0330
Shakespeare's Career
Course Description
Shakespeare’s Career (Pre-1800)
In this course we will study the whole arc of William Shakespeare's literary career from the earliest histories, comedies, and non-dramatic poetry to the more mature tragedies and romances, with an eye to understanding Shakespeare’s development as a writer in his own time. How might the plays have resonated for his first audiences on stage, and how have subsequent readers drawn their own meanings from the published texts? Reading one play a week, we will pay close attention to such dramaturgical issues as Shakespeare’s construction of character and of plot, his adaptation of sources, and his modes of versification, as well as the ethical, political, and commercial implications of Shakespeare’s works during his lifetime, some of which stand in contrast with what we learn from them today. Weather permitting, some meetings may be held outside in person. 3 hrs. lect./1 hr. disc./3 hrs. screen.
Terms Taught
Requirements
ENAM 0500
Special Project: Lit
Course Description
Special Project: Literature
Approval Required.
Terms Taught
ENAM 0700
Senior Thesis:Critical Writing
Course Description
Senior Thesis: Critical Writing
Individual guidance and seminar (discussions, workshops, tutorials) for those undertaking one-term projects in literary criticism or analysis. All critical thesis writers also take the Senior Thesis Workshop (ENAM 700Z) in either Fall or Spring Term.
Terms Taught
ENGL 0103
Current
Reading Literature
Course Description
Reading Literature
Please refer to each section for specific course descriptions.(Formerly ENAM 0103)
Terms Taught
Requirements
ENGL 0204
Foundations of English Lit.
Course Description
Foundations of English Literature (Pre-1800)
Students will study Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and Milton's Paradise Lost, as well as other foundational works of English literature that may include Shakespeare, non-Shakespearean Elizabethan drama, the poetry of Donne, and other 16th- and 17th-century poetry. 3 hrs. lect./disc.(Formerly ENAM 0204)
Terms Taught
Requirements
ENGL 0217
Slam Poetry: Artistry&Politics
Course Description
Slam Poetry: Artistry and Politics
In this course, we will examine the artistry, politics, and history of slam poetry through a wide range of spoken word performances on video. In addition to writing short critiques, students will develop drafts for two new (3-minute) spoken word poems for performance, working in small groups and also individually with the professor over Zoom. Poets include the likes of Denice Frohman, Danez Smith, Portia O., Andrea Gibson, Rudy Francisco, Emi Mahmoud, Safia Elhillo, G. Yamazawa, Amir Safi, Rachel Rostad, Hieu Minh Nguyen, Yesika Salgado, Glori B., and Samantha Peterson, among others. Warning: some of the material in this course is explicit, emotionally intense, and disturbing. Weather permitting, some meetings may take place outside in person. 3 hrs. lect (Formerly ENAM 0217)
Terms Taught
Requirements
ENGL 0245
Avant-Garde Poetry Experiments
Course Description
Poetry Games: Experimental Poetics and Avant-Garde Aesthetics
Not all poetry is, as William Wordsworth put it, “the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings.” Some poetry challenges the very nature of language, art, and subjectivity through various self-decentering forms of writing. In this course, we will study a century’s worth of avant-garde experimental poetry, from the Dadaists and Surrealists to the Oulipo group, the L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E poets, and the conceptual and post-conceptual poetry movements of the 21st century, then create our own poetry using the same techniques and principles. The course is thus part survey and part writing workshop, with an emphasis on artistic process, linguistic theory, and the liberating power of constraints. Topics include: aleatory poetry, algorithmic poetry, blackout poetry, erasure poetry, concrete poetry, exquisite corpse, found poetry, homophonic translation, sound poetry, lipograms, S+7, etc.
Terms Taught
Requirements
ENGL 0317
Lost & Found in Translation
Course Description
Lost and Found in Translation
In this course we will explore the philosophical and linguistic questions raised by translingual discourse through a survey of the most important theoretical writings on translation as we compare multiple translations of the same originals, including some recent experimental writing as well as selections from such classics as the Psalms, the Illiad, the Tao Te Ching, Catullus, Li Bo, Rumi, Clément Marot, Eugene Onegin, and the One Thousand and One Nights. We will discuss such questions as: How does language shape thought? How does culture shape language? Is there anything unique about translating sacred texts, poetry, dead languages, or non-alphabetic languages? 3 hrs. lect/disc. (Formerly ENAM 0317)
Terms Taught
Requirements
ENGL 0328
Upcoming
England's Ovid Font of Myth
Course Description
England’s Ovid: Grabbing Back the Myth (I) (Pre-1800)
In this course we will read Ovid’s Latin compendium of foundational mythical stories, the Metamorphoses, in two important early modern English translations: 1) the 16th-century version by Arthur Golding (the very one that Shakespeare read), which Ezra Pound called “the most beautiful book in the English language”; and 2) the 17th-century version by George Sandys, which contains allegorical commentaries and elaborate synoptic engravings. We will discuss these myths with an emphasis on gender politics and oral storytelling, and sometimes discuss how they reemerge in English literature. We will also examine a rare first edition of the Sandys edition (1623) which is owned by Middlebury College’s Special Collections, in addition to a modern annotated edition. The material for the course contains literary and graphic depictions of sexual violence, which will be critiqued from an unapologetically feminist perspective. (Formerly ENAM 0328)
Terms Taught
Requirements
ENGL 0330
Current
Shakespeare's Career
Course Description
Shakespeare’s Career (Pre-1800)
In this course we will study the whole arc of William Shakespeare's literary career from the earliest histories, comedies, and non-dramatic poetry to the more mature tragedies and romances, with an eye to understanding Shakespeare’s development as a writer in his own time. How might the plays have resonated for his first audiences on stage, and how have subsequent readers drawn their own meanings from the published texts? Reading one play a week, we will pay close attention to such dramaturgical issues as Shakespeare’s construction of character and of plot, his adaptation of sources, and his modes of versification, as well as the ethical, political, and commercial implications of Shakespeare’s works during his lifetime, some of which stand in contrast with what we learn from them today. 3 hrs. lect./3 hrs self-scheduled screenings. (Formerly ENAM 0330)
Terms Taught
Requirements
ENGL 0454
Upcoming
Avant-Garde Poetry Experiments
Course Description
Poetry Games: Experimental Poetics and Avant-Garde Aesthetics
Not all poetry is, as William Wordsworth put it, “the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings.” Some poetry challenges the very nature of language, art, and subjectivity through various self-decentering forms of writing. In this course, we will study a century’s worth of avant-garde experimental poetry, from the Dadaists and Surrealists to the Oulipo group, the L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E poets, and the conceptual and post-conceptual poetry movements of the 21st century, then create our own poetry using the same techniques and principles. The course is thus part survey and part writing workshop, with an emphasis on artistic process, linguistic theory, and the liberating power of constraints. Topics include: aleatory poetry, algorithmic poetry, blackout poetry, concrete poetry, erasure poetry, exquisite corpse, found poetry, homophonic translation, sound poetry, lipograms, S+7, etc.
Terms Taught
Requirements
ENGL 0500
Current
Upcoming
Special Project: Lit
Course Description
Special Project: Literature
Approval Required. (Formerly ENAM 0500)
Terms Taught
ENGL 0700
Current
Upcoming
Senior Thesis:Critical Writing
Course Description
Senior Thesis: Critical Writing
Individual guidance and seminar (discussions, workshops, tutorials) for those undertaking one-term projects in literary criticism or analysis.
Terms Taught
FYSE 1491
Shakespeare's Sonnets
Course Description
Shakespeare's 'Nasty' Sonnets
Of the love triangle that structures William Shakespeare’s enigmatic series of sonnets, Stephen Booth has quipped: “Shakespeare was almost certainly homosexual, bisexual, or heterosexual.” Of the 154 poems, most people know only one or two of the most innocent (“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”), but the series as a whole has scandalized prudish readers for centuries with its confessions of heterosexual lust, homoerotic love, envy, jealousy, misogyny, racism, abjection, pride, and some moping—all in some of the most exquisite verse ever composed in English. In this course we will examine, discuss, and write about the language of Shakespeare's sonnets and their literary historical context as well as the range of critical theories (and sometimes utterly wacky notions) about their mysterious contents, including those from the likes of Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw, and William Wordsworth. This is a feminist, queer-friendly, sex-positive course. 3 hrs. sem.
Terms Taught
Requirements