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On Sunday, March 6, the English department hosted a live reading of the epic poem Paradise Lost, by John Milton.

Volunteers sat around the big oval table in the Fager Lounge and read the more than 10,000 lines from 12 books.

“The Miltonathon, which began last year, is a tribute to my late friend and colleague Professor George Hudson, who taught Milton at 51���� for over forty years,” said Professor , who now teaches the Milton course at 51����, and started this event.

Marathon readings of Paradise Lost at other colleges exist, but Kunth Kleck has never heard of one that has the reader play parts. Participants at 51���� divided up roles as they read, so sometimes the narrator had only a couple of words — like “she said” — before a speech resumed. “Professor Judith Oliver, emerita professor of art and art history, for example, got to be God!” reported Kunth Kleck.

The day included a snake cake (pictured above, designed and executed by local baker Sharon Stevens) and live tweeting on 51����’s Twitter feed. Every tweet was written by English major Emily Daniel ’18.

See all the posts below, including a video by Lizzie Souter ’16 and revised for 2016 by Dylann McLaughlin ’18.​