Doris Lessing at 100: one month away
“Lessing at 100: The Writer’s Quest,” a conference marking Doris Lessing’s centennial, is taking place at the University of East Anglia next month! A full slate of papers and several special events, with appearances by authors such as Margaret Drabble, are scheduled. Registration to attend the conference is open through 16 August. See the website for more information: http://dorislessing100.org/
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
Panel details for the MLA Convention
The Doris Lessing Society is organizing two sessions at the 2013 MLA Convention in Boston.
Please join the discussion. All are welcome!
Thursday, 03 January
98. Doris Lessing’s The Golden Notebook: Fifty Years On
3:30-4:45pm, Beacon G., Sheraton
Program arranged by the Doris Lessing Society
Presiding: Sandra Singer, University of Guelph
- “Going on Fifty: The Golden Notebook as Roman à Clef.” Roberta Rubenstein, American University
- “Feminism and Its Critique in The Golden Notebook, Then and Now.” Josna E. Rege, Worcester State University
- “Doris Lessing’s The Golden Notebook and Chick Lit.” Alice Rachel Ridout, Algoma University
Saturday, 05 January
506. “In Other Worlds”: Atwood and Lessing’s Speculative Fiction
12:00-1:15pm, Beacon G., Sheraton
Program arranged by the Doris Lessing Society and the Margaret Atwood Society
Presiding: Cornelius Collins, Fordham University, Bronx
- “‘Watch Out for Art’: Science, Fiction, and Storytelling in Atwood’s Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood.” Eric Aronoff, Michigan State University
- “Lessing and Atwood’s Dystopic Fictions.” Sharon R. Wilson, University of Northern Colorado
- “Narrative Possibility in the Speculative Fictions of Margaret Atwood and Doris Lessing.” Lauren J. Lacey, Edgewood College
For abstracts, see our Current MLA panels page. For registration information about the MLA Convention, please visit http://www.mla.org/convention.
New CFP – The Aesthetics of Debt in Doris Lessing’s Fiction
The Midwest Modern Languages Association (M/MLA) is now accepting submissions for its 54th Annual Convention, taking place in Cincinnati, Ohio from November 8-11, 2012. The M/MLA is a non-profit organization of teachers and scholars of literature, language and culture.
This historic Hilton hotel will be the site for the upcoming MMLA convention.
The Aesthetics of Debt in Doris Lessing’s Fiction
This panel seeks papers examining Doris Lessing’s critiques of Marxism and capitalism, characters’ anxieties about making ends meet, the relationship between debt and colonialism, and/or Lessing’s concerns about the relationship between aesthetics and economics.
Chair: Tonya Krouse, Northern Kentucky University
To submit, please send 250-word abstracts to Tonya Krouse at krouset@nku.edu.
DEADLINE: July 2nd
To see other current Calls for Papers, check the CFPs page.
Doris Lessing Society 