Two rock ‘n’ roll albums, a current East coast tour and teaching classical literature to college students are all things that Florence Dore — a tenured professor in the UNC English and Comparative Literature department — can put on her resume.
“It turns out ballads are really important to how we understand literature, so I got to bring together my two passions: literature and music,” she said.
While Dore said she wishes she would have studied music in college, she finds rock ‘n’ roll music to be an “amateur’s game” that allows those interested in the genre to learn and gain musical skills on their own.
Dore has also found a way to collaborate literature and rock ‘n’ roll through her research. She has written three books, including "Novel Sounds: Southern Fiction in the Age of Rock and Roll,"and her newest "The Ink in the Grooves: Conversations on Literature and Rock 'n' Roll."
Bland Simpson, a professor of English and creative writing at the University, said Dore’s talent was immediately apparent throughout the interview process.
“I was just knocked out by Florence and her energy and the power of her thought,” Simpson said.
Dore’s songwriting class is popular among many UNC students, he said.
Her position as both a professor and musician is a balancing act. However, she finds her students to be her number one priority. She said it is important that students understand the mystical and strange process of writing music.
“When you’re doing literary criticism or literary writing you’re thinking and analyzing,” Dore said. “When you’re doing creative writing, like songwriting, you’re sort of trying not to think in a way. You’re trying to do a craft, you’re trying to create something. It’s like you’re waiting to be visited.”
