1998 is the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of the first edition of The White Goddess, Robert Graves's celebrated "historical grammar of poetic myth", and a text now widely recognised as seminal in the formation of modern literary culture.
To commemorate this anniversary, the Robert Graves Society in
co-operation with
Gravesiana, the journal of the Robert Graves Society, The Robert
Graves Trust,
the University of Manchester and Carcanet Press wishes to present this
major academic
conference at the University of Manchester, England. The conference will
explore the
meaning and influence of the book and evaluate its legacy for
20th
Century thought and writing. Lending significance to the fiftieth
anniversary and
underlining the enduring merit and appeal of the work is the publication of
a new
edition of The White Goddess by Carcanet, edited by Grevel
Lindop
as part of the Carcanet Press Robert Graves Programme. Appropriately, Faber
and
Faber will reissue the Carcanet version during 1998 as their standard
paperback
edition of the book.
The poets scheduled to read will include:
The speakers and sessions for the conference have now been finalised though
times may yet change. The final details will be included in the conference brochure;
however, for the time being, the following schedule of sessions and speakers
should suffice as a guide to the conference:
Participants
The conference will be open to all, including academics, teachers, research
students
or others having an interest in the life and work of Robert Graves or the
significance of The White Goddess. It will seek to develop a series
of
important themes arising out of the book and its reception from 1948 to the
present
day, including:
There will be a poetry evening held on September 4, at 8 pm.
The reading will be free for all conference participants but tickets will be
availble at the door for members of the general public who wish to attend.September 3
Patrick Quinn, Devindra Kohli and Frank Kersnowski
Joan Fiol, Juana-Maria Segui and Dionysious Psilopolous
September 4
John Smeds, Dunstan Ward, and Bob Davis
Fran Breaton, Ben Freidlander, and Ian Firla
Simon Brittan, Anne Mounic and Ben Wright
John Sharkey, Mary-Ann Constantine and Alice Walker
September 5
Papers presented at the conference will be considered for publication.
Andrew Painter, Robert Bertholf and Paul O'Prey
Rita Rippetoe, Asphodel Long and Alison Goeller
Michel Pharand, John Presley and Francesca Diffeci
Language
The working language of the conference will be English, although some
papers may be
given in Spanish, Catalan, or other European languages. In this case a
summary or
translation of the paper in English should be made available to the
organisers
before the conference.