Boston Classics:

Reading Boston’s Authors of the Past

A 6-Week, In-Person Seminar

with instructor Jessica A. Kent, Founder & Director of Literary Boston

Boston has such a rich literary history, and there are many stories to read from authors who once called Boston home. Let’s do English class together!

“Boston Classics” is an in-person literature class — more immersive than a book club, but far more accessible than an academic course — where we'll read, analyze, and discuss work by authors who once called Boston home. I’ll guide the discussion, offer historical and literary context, and make the texts accessible, even if you’ve never done close reading before.

Tentative Syllabus

Two novels, two weeks of poetry, one week of essays, and one week of short fiction:

Week 1: Early Boston poets (Anne Bradstreet, Phillis Wheatley, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)

Week 2: The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Week 3: Transcendentalist essays (Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Margaret Fuller, and Elizabeth Palmer Peabody)

Week 4: Short fiction (Sarah Orne Jewett and Edgar Allan Poe)

Week 5: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Week 6: 20th c. poets (Sylvia Plath, Robert Lowell, Helene Johnson, and John Wieners)

Additional Ink & Cobblestones walking tour to be arranged after class ends (included!)

A full syllabus and reading materials will be shared with registered participants in advance of the first class. Poems, essays, and short fiction will be provided; you will be responsible for purchasing or borrowing the two novels.

Venue

The historic Omni Parker House, the hub of 19th century literary community and where many of the authors we'll read used to gather!

Because this class is deliberately created to be an in-person experience, there will be no Zoom option. Head here for info on directions and parking.

(Please note: The meeting room we'll likely be in is accessed by two steps. If this presents a challenge for you, feel free to reach out and I’m happy to discuss options.)

Class Logistics and Schedule

There will be two sections: Tuesday evenings or Wednesday evenings. Class will run from 6pm to 8pm, with a short break. Please note that attendees must pick one night/section to attend, and can’t cross-attend nights.

Section 1: Meets on Tuesdays, 6pm-8pm, starting Feb. 3:

  • Tuesday, February 3, 6pm–8pm

  • Tuesday, February 10, 6pm–8pm

  • Tuesday, February 17, 6pm–8pm

  • Tuesday, February 24, 6pm–8pm

  • Tuesday, March 3, 6pm–8pm

  • Tuesday, March 10, 6pm–8pm

  • Walking tour to be scheduled after the class ends

Section 2: Meets on Wednesdays, 6pm-8pm, starting Feb. 4:

  • Wednesday, February 4, 6pm–8pm

  • Wednesday, February 11, 6pm–8pm

  • Wednesday, February 18, 6pm–8pm

  • Wednesday, February 25, 6pm–8pm

  • Wednesday, March 4, 6pm–8pm

  • Wednesday, March 11, 6pm–8pm

  • Walking tour to be scheduled after the class ends

Group Size

Capped at 10 per section.

Cost

$300 (inaugural class rate), which includes six class session and an additional post-class walking tour.

Instructor

Jessica A. Kent, founder and director of Literary Boston. You can learn more about me below!

Cancellation & Refund Policy

Because space is limited and this seminar requires advanced planning, refunds are available as follows:

  • Up to 14 days before class begins: full refund minus a 10% processing fee

  • 7–13 days before class begins: 50% refund

  • Fewer than 7 days before class begins: no refunds

If a spot becomes available, it will be offered to individuals on the waitlist in the order received.

Ready to get reading?

Register below!

Registration is now closed! Look for more class options in the Spring!

Boston Classics Registration

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Your Instructor

Hi! I’m Jessica, and I’m the founder of Literary Boston, a cultural initiative that promotes the local literary community, past and present. Other literary roles include literary history tour guide, library assistant, bookseller at both indies and Barnes & Noble, book festival director and social media manager, lit mag founder, lit org board member — and, of course, writer.

I hold a BFA in Creative Writing from Emerson College and an MA in Literature from Harvard University (Extension), where my thesis on Moby-Dick and Calvinism won the Director’s Prize (yes, I wrote that for fun!). During my time in my master’s program, I tried to take as many classes in American Literature as I could, specifically 19th c. New England literature. And yes, there was a bit of literary theory in there, too.

My writing has appeared the North American Review, the Emerson Review, Writer’s Bone, and others, and my short story “Rose” received the Leah Lovenheim Award for Short Fiction. I’m also a freelance ghostwriter with over a hundred pieces published out there on the web. You can find my portfolio here.

I recently graduated from GrubStreet's Novel Incubator program, a year-long novel writing craft intensive, where I worked on a novel about paramedics in 1970s Boston (still in progress!).

Finally, my passion for “digging into the text” lead me to run a book club for a few years we called “English class over dinner,” as well as a nine-month informal “Moby-Dick Class” where I guided friends through the novel.