Even If He Weren’t My Friend: Frederick Douglass & Mark Twain
Matt Seybold traces the relationship between Frederick Douglass and Mark Twain, asking whether Twain was in the audience for Douglass’s Emancipation Day speech in Elmira in 1880.
Author: Matt Seybold
Matt Seybold is Associate Professor of American Literature & Mark Twain Studies at Elmira College, as well as Resident Scholar at the Center For Mark Twain Studies. He is the founding editor of MarkTwainStudies.org. In addition to writing series like "The Apocryphal Twain," "The Twain Doctrine," and "Mark Twain's Portfolio," Dr. Seybold creates our Digital Editions. He is also the executive producer and primary host of The American Vandal Podcast, co-organizer of the Summer Teachers Institute, and an ex officio member of the organizing committees for all our fellowships and conferences. Dr. Seybold's work on Twain has been published in numerous peer-reviewed and public-facing venues. He is an active member of the Mark Twain Circle of America and part of the editorial board of the Mark Twain Annual.
The Apocryphal Twain: “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog.”
The search for the origin of this popular aphorism run through Dwight D. Eisenhower, “Bear” Bryant, and the B&O railroad!?!
The Apocryphal Twain: “America is built on a tilt and everything loose slides to California.” (Plus Things Mark Twain Really Said About California!)
Is Mark Twain really responsible for this aphorism about curiously unhinged Californians?
Death at Christmastime: Mark Twain & The Music of Merciful Release
Mark Twain spent much of the last decade of his life in mourning. Music became the centerpiece of his grieving process. Matt Seybold unwraps Twain’s personal soundtrack to loss and remembrance.
The Apocryphal Twain: “Writing is easy. All you have to do is cross out the wrong words.”
Mark Twain may have made writing look easy, but he didn’t think it actually was.
Virginia Theater Staging Tom Sawyer On Demand
We talked with the playwright who adapted Mark Twain’s novel for the Barter Theatre stage.
Buried In The Rose Garden, And The Coroner Notified: Bill Clinton, Gore Vidal, & the Electoral Burlesque
In 1992, Gore Vidal used Mark Twain’s characters to allegorize what he believed might be the last U.S. presidential election.
Conejo Players Theatre Producing “Mark Twain’s The Diaries of Adam & Eve” For Audiences Nationwide
The oldest volunteer theater company in California brings David Birney’s adaptation of Mark Twain’s Eden diaries to your screen of choice.
Amy Kaplan & The McDonaldization of Mark Twain
Amy Kaplan’s scholarship presents important challenges for Twain Studies.
The Blue Jays Play Their Home Opener On The Site of Mark Twain’s Buffalo Boarding House
The first Major League Baseball game in Buffalo since 1885 has multiple connections to Mark Twain.