Romantic Circles Blog

FINAL CALL FOR PAPERS
BARS: The British Association for Romantic Studies Biennial Conference
deadline October 15, 2004

ROMANTICISM’S DEBATABLE LANDS
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/bars2005/
28-31 July 2005
University of Newcastle
Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

The phrase ‘Debatable Lands’ has been used in reference to disputed parts of the Anglo-Scottish Border since at least the sixteenth century. Popularised by Walter Scott, the term was extended to other geographical areas and into metaphorical use in the nineteenth century. Macaulay in 1828 described history as the “debatable land” between Reason and Imagination. The BARS conference of 2005 invites an assessment of Romanticism’s Debatable Lands in the fullest and broadest senses of the phrase.

Proposals for 20-minute papers are warmly invited on any aspect of the conference theme. Proposals should be not more than 300 words and submitted by 15 October, 2004. We are also interested in proposals for Special Sessions. Convenors of Special Sessions are asked to submit a title and details of the three 20-minute papers proposed for the Session by the deadline.

The conference organisers are Professor Claire Lamont and Dr Michael Rossington of the School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics at the University of Newcastle.

Online submission forms for proposals are available on the conference website. Alternatively you are welcome to submit a proposal by e-mail (BARS2005@newcastle.ac.uk) or by post to:

Dr Michael Rossington, BARS2005,
School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics
University of Newcastle
Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK
Conference e-mail address: BARS2005@newcastle.ac.uk
Conference website address: http://www.ncl.ac.uk/bars2005

The first SWIRL symposium will be held in Bristol at the University of Bristol, on Friday 29 October 2004.

http://www.bris.ac.uk/romanticstudies/swirl

The South West Interdisciplinary Romanticism Link (SWIRL) has three aims: to strengthen a network of scholars working on different aspects of the period 1750-1850, to facilitate debate across the disciplines, and to boost the profile of Romantic studies in the region. We envisage a forum in which academics from the South West and beyond could explore the intellectual and professional challenges that currently energise our field.

This kind of project presents significant intellectual difficulties. “Romantic” can mean different things in different disciplines, and it would be foolish to impose a definition from the outset. Instead, we want to start a conversation about interdisciplinary engagements in Romantic studies. Are such things possible? Are we already involved in them? What shape might they take in the future?

With those questions in mind, we invite Romanticists to join us for a one-day symposium, comprising round-table discussions stimulated by short papers. Speakers drawn from a variety of disciplines will describe their current research and tell us how they engage with interdisciplinary approaches.

Speakers confirmed to date include:

Chris Bertram (Philosophy, Bristol)
Stephen Bygrave (English, Southampton)
Malcolm Cook (French, Exeter)
William Doyle (History, Bristol)
Caroline Franklin (English, Swansea)
Julie Gammon (History, Southampton)
Robin Jarvis (English, UWE)
James Kearns (French, Exeter)
Malcolm Kelsall (English, Cardiff)
Michael Liversidge (History of Art, Bristol)
Christine Macleod (History, Bristol)
Anthony Mandal (English, Cardiff)
Jane Moore (English, Cardiff)
Lesley Sharpe (German, Exeter)
Richard Sheldon (History, Bristol)
Jane Spencer (English, Exeter)
Asheley Tauchert (English, Exeter)
Helen Thomas (English, Exeter)

The symposium will be held in the beautiful surroundings of The Holmes, a listed building dating from 1879, where the American General Staff met during World War II. Places are limited, so please let us know soon if you’d like to come.

To register contact:

Tom Mole, Department of English, University of Bristol,
Tom.Mole@bristol.ac.uk

or

Benjamin Walton, Department of Music, University of Bristol,
Benjamin.Walton@bristol.ac.uk

Romantic Circles is very pleased to announce the publication of British War Poetry in the Age of Romanticism: 1793-1815 by Betty T. Bennett, digital text edited by Orianne Smith.

http://www.rc.umd.edu/editions/warpoetry/

This is a new electronic edition of Bennett’s valuable 1976 book, in which she collected 350 poems from among over 3000 she discovered in newspapers, journals, and books of the time, together representing the complex and shifting attitudes of Britons during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Over the years since it was first published in 1976, this collection has been prized by several generations of Romantic-era scholars who owned or, after it went out of print, were fortunate to find an extant copy.  This electronic edition of Bennett’s British War Poetry was created in order to give current and future scholars access to this significant work of scholarship.  Besides hypertext annotations and menus allowing the user to access the poems by date, title, and author, and a keyword search engine covering the collection as a whole, the edition includes Bennett’s original introductory essay and bibliography, as well as a new bibliography listing 1030 additional war poems not included in the original book.

SJ

This announcement of a new play about Byron just appeared online:

Announcing the world premiere of The Bride of Prejudice: The Marriage of Lord Byron, a new play by Peter Dunne, running Tuesday 5 October-Sunday 24 October; Tuesdays-Sundays (7:45pm) at Barons Court Theatre, 28A Comeragh Road, London, W14 9RH (Nearest Station Baron’s Court/West Kensington–Piccadilly and District Lines) Admission: £12 (Concs.£10)

Box Office 020 8932 4747

Following the success of The Remarkable Piety of The Infamous, Peter Dunne’s hilarious and unforgettable production about Oscar Wilde in Paris, Primrose Productions return to Baron’s Court Theatre with his new play, Bride of Prejudice, the story of Lord Byron’s marriage.

After the publication of Childe Harold in 1812 Whig society had a new idol, Lord Byron. Adored by the Beau Monde and in particular by Lady Caroline Lamb who hounded him relentlessly, his celebrity grew more notorious. Consequently he decided to marry and through the meditation of his confidante Lady Melbourne (known to her friends as “the Spider”), a match was proposed with her niece Annabella Milbank. Annabella refused his proposal on the basis of ‘the wicked nature of his principles’. Subsequently Byron’s half sister Augusta Leigh arrived in London to escape her husbands gambling debts. Byron found himself fatally drawn to this forbidden fruit and secretly they fell passionately in love. This doomed relationship and Annabella’s eventual acceptance of Byron’s proposal is the subject of this fascinating play, Bride of Prejudice.

For more information about Bride of Prejudice, or to interview cast or playwright, call 07951766355 or email Dunne3000@hotmail.com