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Wednesday 30 January 2013

In Memoriam: Professor Susan Manning



News of the recent passing of Dr. Susan (Valentine) Manning, Grierson Professor of English Literature and director of the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities at the University of Edinburgh, has deeply saddened those working on Scottish Studies across the globe. Dr. Manning's scholarship on Scottish literature and transatlantic literary studies was held in the highest esteem by those in her field. An expert in the Scottish Enlightenment, Dr. Manning contributed immeasurably to our understanding of the Scot, Scotland, and Scottish culture at a critical historical moment. As a scholar she often worked on establishing connections between texts, people, and nations, brilliantly weaving in her most recent publication, "Robert Burns's Transatlantic Afterlives," the life and writings of Burns, the poetry of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, the novels of Toni Morrison, the theory of Colin McArthur, the letters of the Kerrs of Dalry (Ayrshire), and more. In that chapter, Dr. Manning reflected on "the shaping process that the past exerts on the present," and there is no doubt that her own life and works will continue to shape and inspire her family, friends, and colleagues. 

Dr. Manning’s obituary recently appeared in The Scotsman.

Holly Faith Nelson