For this week's class we were tasked with the curation of a series of publications of Christina Rossetti’s classic poem “Goblin Market”. The process of curation was both incredibly interesting and uniquely challenging. Firstly, I like to point out that the experience of viewing all the first edition and primary source texts front the Ryerson Library was incredibly engaging. It was wonderful to see all those different versions of the text first hand and really illuminating to learn just how much the text had evolved overtime. By taking that virtual tour I learned a great deal about how a story can change and update itself to fit with the times. The process of curation was also interesting in its own way. Tasked with analyzing the pop-culture spinoffs, I really enjoyed learning about how these traditional literary classics can be retooled for a number of different genres and audiences. After viewing all the different versions of the text in this way I was enlightened to new perspectives on the original text itself. I found it incredibly interesting that by simply emphasizing certain aspects or themes already present within the text the entire tone and meaning of the poem can change.

Simon Mancuso