Ohio Wesleyan Professor Releases Fifth Book
David Caplan, Ph.D., Edits Essay Collection Exploring the History of Rhyme
DELAWARE, Ohio – Leading scholars wax eloquent “On Rhyme” in this new book edited by Ohio Wesleyan University professor and poet David Caplan, Ph.D.
The 208-page book, published by the University of Liege Press in Belgium, includes essays from U.S. and U.K. scholars that explore rhyme in multiple historical periods (including the Renaissance, Augustan, Romantic, Modern, and Contemporary eras) and in multiple genres (including poetry and song).
“The book highlights rhyme’s complexity, suggesting new avenues for research and new methodologies,” said Caplan, who joined the Ohio Wesleyan faculty in 2000.
Caplan said the book is divided into six sections: Rhyme in Modern and Contemporary American Poetry, Rhyme across Time Periods, Rhyme in Earlier Periods, Poetry Portfolio, Hip Hop and Rhyme, and Rhyme in Other Texts.
Several essays consider how artists (such as poets Robert Creeley, Emily Dickinson, and Edmund Spenser, and Somali-born hip-hop artist K’naan) utilize rhyme. Other writings analyze the shifting attitudes toward rhyme that characterize particular historical periods. A selection of poems included in the book enables the poets offer their personal perspectives on rhyme.
At Ohio Wesleyan, Caplan is the Charles M. Weis Professor of English and the associate director of creative writing. His scholarly interests include poetics and contemporary poetry. His other books are “Questions of Possibility: Contemporary Poetry and Poetic Form” (2004), “Poetic Form: An Introduction” (2006), “In the World He Created According to His Will” (2010), and “Rhyme’s Challenge: Poetry, Hip Hop, and Contemporary Rhyming Culture” (2014).
Caplan serves as a contributing editor to both the Virginia Quarterly Review and to Pleiades: A Journal of New Writing. He also is a member of the executive committee of the Modern Language Association’s Creative Writing Forum and an affiliated researcher at the Centre Interdisciplinaire de Poétique Appliquée. Twice he has been a Fulbright Lecturer in American Literature at the University of Liège.
Caplan earned his Bachelor of Arts from Hobart College, Master of Fine Arts from the University of Florida, and additional master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Virginia.
Read more about Caplan and Ohio Wesleyan’s Department of English at www.owu.edu/english.
Founded in 1842, Ohio Wesleyan University is one of the nation’s premier liberal arts universities. Located in Delaware, Ohio, the private university offers nearly 90 undergraduate majors and competes in 23 NCAA Division III varsity sports. Through Ohio Wesleyan’s signature OWU Connection program, students integrate knowledge across disciplines, build a diverse and global perspective, and apply their knowledge in real-world settings. Ohio Wesleyan is featured in the book “Colleges That Change Lives,” listed on the latest President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction, and included in the U.S. News & World Report and Princeton Review “best colleges” lists. Learn more at www.owu.edu.