Arnold Bennett in 1913, by Alvin Langdon Coburn
CALL FOR PAPERS: ‘ARNOLD BENNETT AND HIS CIRCLE’: A SYMPOSIUM CO-HOSTED BY THE EDWARDIAN CULTURE NETWORK AND THE ARNOLD BENNETT SOCIETY
KEELE UNIVERSITY 17TH – 18TH OCTOBER 2014
As I closed the book at 7 in the morning after the shortest sleepless night of my experience a thought passed through my head that I knew pretty well my “Bennett militant” and that, not to be too complimentary, he was a pretty good hand at it; but that there I had “Bennett triumphant” without any doubt whatever. A memorable night.
Joseph Conrad in a letter to Arnold Bennett, January 1924
Conrad was one of many contemporaries who recognised Arnold Bennett as one of the most assured and influential writers of his generation. At once both a commercially-successful and an experimental writer, Bennett’s range encompassed commercial fiction and naturalism, self-help books and short stories, journalism and science-fiction. ‘Arnold Bennett and His Circle’ will seek to present Bennett as an icon of the Edwardian age, fundamental to our understanding of the period, and a writer whose work needs to be considered specifically in an Edwardian context.
We invite abstracts (250-300 words) for ten-minute papers on any aspect of Bennett’s Edwardian writing, biography and wider circle. Topics might include, but are not limited to:
– Bennett and the Edwardian literary field
– Bennett’s literary theories
– Bennett and his contemporaries
– Bennett’s influences and influence
– Bennett and genre
– Bennett and material culture
– Bennett’s readers
Proposals should be sent to edwardianculture@hotmail.co.uk by Monday 30th June 2014. Confirmed speakers include Professor David Amigoni (Keele University), Professor Ruth Robbins (Leeds Metropolitan University), John Shapcott (Keele University), and Professor Deborah Wynne (University of Chester). For updates about the event, please visit www.edwardianculture.com
