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