Posted in 21st Annual Internation Conference on Virginia Woolf, tagged 21st Annual Internation Conference on Virginia Woolf, Catherine Hollis, Contradictory Woolf, Jane Goldman, Jean Moorcroft Wilson, Patrizia Muscogiuri, Suzanne Bellamy on Tuesday 14 June 2011| 2 Comments »
Marina Warner and Jane Goldman, conference organizer
Jean Moorcroft Wilson
At left, Gill Lowe in the pageant skit written by Suzanne Bellamy, pictured at right
Posted in 21st Annual Internation Conference on Virginia Woolf, tagged Clemson University Digital Press, Vara Neverow, Woolf conference selected papers on Monday 13 June 2011| 3 Comments »
The conference was cram-packed with fabulous events, plenaries, performances, panels and invaluable opportunities to mingle with friends new and old. The attendees included numerous Woolfian devotees who had been to every annual conference and those who had never been to any conference before. There were internationally famous scholars, independent scholars and those who had just completed their undergraduate degrees. The registrants came from all over the globe and gathered in Glasgow for just four unforgettable days.
The setting of the conference was itself awe-inspiring. As we arrived, those who had never visited before were amazed by “all the domes, spires, turrets, and pinnacles of [the University of Glasgow],” to modify Virginia Woolf’s own words in Orlando. Hunter Halls, the vast space where the registration was located, along with the continental breakfasts and snacks and receptions, boasted leaded windows and stunning Corinthian pillars with gilded capitals.
There, publishers offered their coveted books at significant discounts (including the amazing price cut offered by Cambridge University Press). Stuart N. Clarke and Stephen Barkway of the Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain displayed VWSGB items as well as the Birthday Lectures pamphlets and an array of highly desirable volumes, including many from the Hogarth Press.
Cecil Woolf and Jean Moorcroft Wilson
Along with the Oxford and Edinburgh presses, so too Suzanne Bellamy exhibited her artwork for sale and Cecil Woolf and JeanMoorcroft Wilson (wearing, of course, her gorgeous gowns and robes in shades of purple or rose or iridescent green and embroidered or accented with peacock fabric from Liberty) displayed their wares—the Bloomsbury Heritage Series works—which included their most recent publications: Mark Hussey’s I’d Make It Penal’, the Rural Preservation Movement in Virginia Woolf’s `Between the Acts’, Emily Kopley’s Virginia Woof and the Thirties Poets and Mary Ann Caws’ How Vita Matters. Also on display was the newly minted edition of Mark Hussey’s invaluable Virginia Woolf: A to Z. Forms for joining the International Virginia Woolf Society were available as well.
Bute Hall was the site where artist and Woolf scholar Suzanne Bellamy directed a pageant based on Miss LaTrobe’s event in Between the Acts. The performance included Jane Goldman as both Mrs. Manresa and Queenie D. Leavis, Krystyna Colburn as the Narrator and Mark Hussey as Reverend Streatfield. The audience, at Bellamy’s urging, provided mooing to replicate the cows’ voices in the novel. Bellamy’s massive canvas, which also drew on Between the Acts, was displayed in the space for the entire conference.
Bute Hall, where the plenary events and a number of panels were held, was architectural eye-candy too. An ornate space with lovely stained glass windows honoring men of letters (but, alas, no women), this was the site of the Friday evening production of Vanessa and Virginia, a play by Elizabeth Wright based on Susan Sellers’ novel of the same title.
Among the other plenaries were Judith Allen’s “‘But . . . I had said ‘but too often.’ Why But?,” which investigated the politics of Woolf’s use of repetition primarily in A Room of One’s Own and Three Guineas, and Michael Whitworth’s brilliant talk, “Woolf, Context, and Contradiction,” which addressed explored formalist, political and historical approaches of editing and annotating Woolf’s work.
Other plenaries included Kirsty Gunn’s “Sentence by Sentence: The Art of Making Fiction Real” and the roundtable “Queering Woolf and Pedagogy,” organized by Madelyn Detloff and featuring Erin Douglas, Kathryn Simpson and Nick Smart. On Sunday, there were two plenary events: “Confronting War: Approaches to the Contradictory Topics of War and Peace in Woolf’s Life and Work” (chaired by Karen Levenback and Jane Wood and featuring Eileen Barrett, Stuart N. Clarke, Lolly Ockerstrom and [in absentia], Vara Neverow) and David Bradshaw’s and Laura Marcus’s “Class Contradictions”
The thread of the contradictory was celebrated, not only in the presentations at the plenaries, but in the sheer multiplicities of panels. Reading through the program and trying to decide which panel to attend caused one to wish to possess surrogate selves and send them to several sessions simultaneously. The internal debate for each of the attendees no doubt sounded something like: “Yes, I’ll go to that one—oh, but, no, I have to hear that paper—on the other hand, perhaps….” And then, of course, there were seductive options unrelated to the conference itself like visiting the Charles Rennie Macintosh House.
The traditional culminating events were held on Saturday evening. This year, the event was two-fold: the reception (an event generously sponsored by the Glasgow City Council) and the subsequent dinner. Buses shuttled the attendees to the City Centre where we disembarked before yet another architecturally awesome building, the City Chambers. Cecil Woolf spoke at the
The following day, Woolfians met early before the panels began for a meeting regarding the 22ndConference: Interdisciplinary/Multidisciplinary Woolf, to be organized by Ann Martin at the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada. Through the day, there were farewells and hugs and partings. Some went to airports or train stations; some stayed on a few days and visited friends or explored Glasgow; some went on an adventure to the Isle of Skye. The conference was over.
“Dispersed [were] we” until another year.
One hopes that those who made the conference possible will be able to take a few short breaths before they fling themselves into other projects. The organizers of Contradictory Woolf deserve the deepest gratitude of all Woolfians—not just those who were able to attend but also those who could not, for all will—thanks to Wayne Chapman and Clemson University Digital Press—be able to read the selected papers of Contradictory Woolf in the conference volume (and by the way, the insert in the conference folder indicates that submissions should be sent to Derek Ryan d.ryan.1@research.gla.ac.uk and Stella Bolaki stella.bolaki@glasgow.ac.uk) by Aug. 10, 2011.
Posted in 21st Annual Internation Conference on Virginia Woolf, 22nd Annual International Conference on Virginia Woolf, Alexandra Harris, tagged 21st Annual International Conference on Virginia Woolf, 22nd Annual International Conference on Virginia Woolf on Thursday 2 June 2011| Leave a Comment »
Contradictory Woolf will take place June 9-12 in Glasgow, Scotland, and Interdisciplinary/Multidisciplinary Woolf will be held June 7-10 at the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada.
The 22nd conference website is now live, and the plans already formulated sound pretty exciting.
Plenary speakers include:
According to the conference website, the theme is “inspired by Woolf’s efforts to cross, undermine, and sometimes reassert disciplinary and other boundaries in her body of work. Conference organizers welcome scholars, teachers, students, readers, activists, community groups and artists who respond to Woolf and her circle from diverse points of view. Of particular interest are interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches to Woolf, whether in the form of research, pedagogy and creative work or community or institutional activities.”
A call for papers will be circulated this summer, and more details about the program and events will be posted soon.
For more information, contact organizer Ann Martin.
Posted in 21st Annual Internation Conference on Virginia Woolf, Woolf and the natural world, Woolf as Commodity, tagged 21st Annual International Conference on Virginia Woolf, Cynthia Nash, Virginia Woolf Collection, Woolf and the natural world on Monday 5 April 2010| 2 Comments »
The Virginia Woolf Collection
To mark the 20th Annual International Conference on Virginia Woolf, Cynthia Nash has created a collection of specially designed jewelry named in honor of Woolf.
The Virginia Woolf Collection includes tanzanite and garnet Swarovski crystals, with tanzanite representing Woolf’s favorite colored ink and garnet symbolizing friendship, wholeness and success, according to Nash.
The idea for the jewelry collection started with Kristin Czarnecki, organizer of this year’s conference at Georgetown College in Georgetown, Ky, whose theme is “Woolf and the Natural Word.” She said Nash asked many questions about Woolf and read To the Lighthouse before designing the necklace, bracelet and earrings in Woolf’s honor.
“Cindy’s Virginia Woolf jewelry is a lovely, lasting memento of Woolf’s significance in our lives and the fellowship we enjoy at each year’s conference,” Czarnecki said.
Orders placed by May 10 receive a 10 percent pre-conference discount. To get the discount, use the code vwoolf at checkout. Conference attendees will also save the customary $8 shipping fee, as they can pick up their orders when they arrive at the conference. Pieces from the collection will also be available for sale at the conference.
Posted in 21st Annual Internation Conference on Virginia Woolf, Virginia Woolf Miscellany, Woolf and the natural world, tagged 20th Annual International Conference on Virginia Woolf, Virginia Woolf Miscellany, Woolf and the natural world on Monday 22 February 2010| Leave a Comment »
The Miscellany is seeking articles examining the natural world–gardens, landscapes, animals, ecology, etc.–in Woolf’s life and writing. Articles addressing teaching Woolf and nature are also welcome.
The theme is the same as that of the 2oth Annual International Conference on Virginia Woolf, which will be held June 3-5 in Georgetown, Ky.
Articles of no more than 2,500 words should be sent via e-mail attachment to kristin_czarnecki@georgetowncollege.edu.
According to the Miscellany’s Web site, the publication was founded by Dr. J. J. Wilson, now emerita professor of English at Sonoma State University in California. The first issue was published in fall 1973. The publication now resides at Southern Connecticut State University.
