deadline Apr. 30: Doris Lessing 100 conference, University of East Anglia
The deadline for submitting a proposal to participate in the conference marking Doris Lessing’s centenary, taking place this fall at the University of East Anglia (UK), is almost here: April 30! See details below or visit the conference website.
12th-14th September 2019
UEA Thomas Paine Centre
The School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing at UEA is hosting an international conference to mark the centenary of Doris Lessing’s birth.Doris Lessing is one of the most widely-read and culturally important writers of the twentieth century, yet her academic reputation does not reflect this fact. On the occasion of her centenary, this conference proposes a new critical exploration of the life and work of a complex and multifaceted writer, presenting an opportunity to rethink her contribution to modern literature. It also seeks to establish Lessing as a central figure in twentieth-century literature who traverses a range of forms, styles, periodising categories, genres, political orientations, and readerships.
The conference will take place at the University of East Anglia, an institution that Lessing had a strong connection with, and to which she donated her extensive personal papers on her death. The event will coincide with an exhibition dedicated to Lessing’s life and work in the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts at UEA, which will see letters, manuscripts and personal effects on public display for the first time.
Please see the conference website at http://dorislessing100.org/ for more details.
Confirmed keynote speakers include:
Patrick French (Lessing’s official biographer) in conversation with Professor Christopher Bigsby (UEA)
Dr. Nick Hubble (Brunel University)
Professor Roberta Rubenstein (American University, Washington)Topics may include, but are not restricted to:
Lessing’s relationship to questions of gender, feminism and women’s liberation
Lessing’s politics: Communism, Anti-Communism and the New Left
Lessing and the theory of the novel: realism and/or experimentalism in Lessing’s work
Lessing as short story writer / poet / playwright
Science fiction
Sufism / religion
Lessing and Africa: from the colonial to the postcolonial
Archives: Lessing’s papers, her interest in archives
Reception and readership
Lessing in translation (the BCLT at UEA has an extensive archive of translations: contact the conference organisers if you would like to consult this)
Teaching Lessing
Lessing’s influencePlease send proposals for 20 minute papers, panels, roundtables, and creative contributions to lessing100@uea.ac.uk before 30th April 2019
Conference Organisers: Dr. Matthew Taunton (UEA) and Dr. Nonia Williams (UEA)
Contact: lessing100@uea.ac.uk
Doris Lessing Society 