Hutton Honors College

A Performance of The Rap Canterbury Tales
By Canadian Rap Artist and Chaucer Scholar Baba Brinkman

Wednesday, April 1, 2009 * 7:30 p.m. * Frangipani Room, IMU * Free and Open to the Public
Reception to Follow in HHC Building, 811 E. Seventh St.

What do Chaucer's poetry and rap music have in common? According to Canadian rap artist and Medieval studies scholar Baba Brinkman, a lot! Brinkman has a long standing interest in rap, having begun writing rap lyrics and participating in freestyle competitions in his teens. After obtaining degrees in Medieval studies and writing his master's thesis on the parallels between the narrative structures of contemporary rap music and Chaucer's poetry, Brinkman was inspired to write The Rap Canterbury Tales, which re-narrates Chaucer's classic tales of the Pardoner, the Miller, and the Wife of Bath using the modern medium of rap to bring them to life for contemporary audiences. The Rap Canterbury Tales has proven a hit, having been recorded as an audio CD and published as a book. Brinkman has toured The Rap Canterbury Tales internationally, taking the show to Prague, Montreal, Edinburgh, Melbourne, New York, San Francisco, and London; and he is currently in the midst of an American performance tour at universities and other venues. Brinkman has released seven additional albums and started his own company, Babasword Productions, and his own indie record label, Lit Fuse Records.

The free performance, which is cosponsored by the Department of English, the Hutton Honors College, the Medieval Studies Institute, and the Renaissance Studies Program, will be in the Frangipani Room of the Indiana Memorial Union at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 1. A reception will follow in the Great Room of the Hutton Honors College, located at 811 E. Seventh Street.

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