Critic Plans Norton Talks On Literary Interpretation

J. Frank Kermode, this year's Norton Lecturer, said yesterday he will speak on problems in the interpretation of literature during the six lecture series, which will begin November 28.

The titles and specific topics for the lectures will be announced next week, he said.

Kermode, a prominent literary critic on leave from Cambridge University, in England, has written extensively on Shakespeare, Milton, Donne, Spenser and Wallace Stevens.

Grew Up on Man

Although he lives in England, Kermode calls himself "a Manxman," because he grew up on the Isle of Man, a small independent country situated between England and Ireland.

He taught at several British universities before taking his present position at Cambridge.

Kermode's first book of literary criticism was "The Romantic Image," published in 1957. He has written several other books, and edits the Modern Masters series of biographies.

Kermode taught at Harvard in the summer of 1961 and has lectured here occasionally since then. "I'm no stranger here," he said yesterday, adding that his wife attended Radcliffe College.

Kermode said he has told University administrators he would like to teach here next spring, but that definite arrangements have not been made. He said he expects to confer with graduate students while he is here, and will hold open office hours.

Jerome H. Buckley, Gurney Professor of English Literature and chairman of the Norton selection committee, said Kermode was chosen because he is "a leading figure in the literary field."