As I hope many of you are regular readers of MarkTwainStudies.org <http://marktwainstudies.org/> (as well as, in many cases, part of our stable of contributors), I try to refrain from posting too often on the Forum about new pieces from our blog. There’s great new work there every week and I don’t want to give the impression that I value any contributor’s work above the rest. 

With that caveat, I can’t resist drawing your attention to Hilton Obenzinger’s recent contribution to our ongoing “150 Years of The Innocents Abroad.” It is a sensational and extremely well-told story of how Twain’s work unexpectedly invites itself into contemporary controversies and from there finds fresh audiences, some of whom become new sources for original Twain scholarship:

https://marktwainstudies.com/getting-innocent/

By the way, after you read “Getting Innocent,” you should definitely check out the previous entries in the series, by Hal Hellwig, Jeff Melton, and Jeanne Reesman. I’ve learned so much editing these contributions. 

Finally, since I’m here, I’ll also promote the Susan K. Harris essay that marks Sam and Livy’s recent 150th Wedding Anniversary. Susan offers us a spirited, concise summary of the courtship, as only she could. 

https://marktwainstudies.com/elmira-girl-marries-hannibal-boy-and-the-rest-is-literary-history/ <https://marktwainstudies.com/elmira-girl-marries-hannibal-boy-and-the-rest-is-literary-history/>

- MS  

***************
Matt Seybold
Assistant Professor of American Literature & Mark Twain Studies
Elmira College
Editor, MarkTwainStudies.org
MattSeybold.com