“The tattoo I thought I would get was the head of a Temple toggle harpoon. I was setting sail on the 38th Voyage of the Charles W. Morgan, and I wanted a tattoo to commemorate my journey.”
Hester Blum is an Associate Professor of English at Penn State University, where she specializes in 19th-century American Literature and Oceanic Studies—the study of literary and cultural circulations defined by sea routes and flows rather than by political or terrestrial boundaries.
As a 38th Voyager, Blum is interested in the moments when nautical communities become literary communities, whether through shared reading, storytelling, narrative writing, performance, or contestation. Read more »
Eighty-five individuals from a wide range of disciplines and backgrounds sailed aboard the ship and participated in an unprecedented public-history project, using their own perspectives and talents to document their experiences. Meet the Voyagers »
