The Westwood Historical Society – in collaboration with the Westwood Public Library – will be hosting Dr. Nancy Milner Kelly as our speaker. Recently retired from teaching at Tufts University, Nancy will focus on today’s increasingly diverse world and how the pain of writers displaced from their respective homelands manifests itself in their writing.

During this program, Nancy will provide a brief overview of colonialism as background. She will then talk about the works of novelists and a poet who have relocated from Asia and Latin America as well as Africa and Caribbean countries. Images and themes of geographical, cultural, emotional, and linguistic exile are prevalent in this literature. However, these writers also talk about the solace they seek (and receive) in writing, with writing becoming a new kind of “homeland” for them. Frequently, they write in the language of their new country, partly to ensure a wider audience. Nancy will also use paintings, photos, and quotes from some of these post-colonial novels and poems to illustrate how these themes play out in the written word.

Nancy holds a PhD in French literature and has done considerable research in this field. She has presented at conferences in the U.S., Canada, and Europe and has published several articles on literary and pedagogical topics.