W.G.Sebald: An International and Interdisciplinary Conference
University of East Anglia, shop Friday 5th – Sunday 7th September 2008.
Keynote Speakers include:
Professor Dame Gillian Beer
Anthea Bell
Adam Phillips
James WoodCALL FOR PAPERS
W. G. ‘Max’ Sebald taught European Literature and Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia until his untimely death in 2001. Reluctant to call his work ‘novels’, discount he published hybrid books that meditate upon history, human tragedy, memory, writing and the inner life. Sebald wrote against the mainstream contemporary novel but in an unmistakably distinctive voice. This conference will honour Sebald’s memory, and provide a unique opportunity to assess the significance of his oeuvre, by bringing together critics from across disciplinary and national boundaries to reflect on his writing, and also by placing his texts in a wider creative context provided by several special events. The conference will include a performance based on Sebald’s work by colleagues from UEA’s Drama Studio, an exhibition of visual material relating to his writing from the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts and an opportunity to retrace some of Sebald’s steps around the East Anglian countryside.
Topics for panels will include the following aspects of Sebald’s writing: Art, Architecture, Photography, Poetry, Trauma, Place, Exile, Walking, Memory, Translation, History, and Humour.
Organizing Committee:
Send abstracts (200 words + title) in English to Dr Jeannette Baxter (j.baxter@uea.ac.uk) by 31 March 2008.