Literary London 2009

School of English and Drama, Queen Mary, University of London

9-10th July 2009

Hosted by the School of English and Drama, Queen Mary, University of London Organised by the University of Northampton, Kingston University, and Queen Mary, University of London

Keynote Speakers and Creative Writers

• Rachel Lichtenstein, author of On Brick Lane and Rodinsky’s Room
• Professor Scott McCracken (Keele, English)
• Professor Miles Ogborn (QMUL, Geography)

Queen Mary, University of London

The 8th Annual Literary London conference will be hosted by the School of English and Drama, , located in Mile End, at the heart of London’s East End. The Mile End campus is historically the home of Queen Mary College, which began life in 1887 as the People’s Palace, a philanthropic endeavour to provide east Londoners with education and social activities. In 1995 it merged with Westfield College, which was founded in 1882 as a pioneering college for the higher education of women. English studies commenced in 1905, and the Queen Mary English department was founded in 1911 with the appointment of the writer Hilaire Belloc. Today the Department of English is the largest in London, and remains committed to world-class research and teaching. It has recently launched a new interdisciplinary MA in London Studies.

Travel

The campus is easily reached on the Underground using the Central, Hammersmith & City, and District lines to Mile End Station (in Zone Two; c.15 minutes to central London).

Aim of the Conference

London is one of the world's major cities with a long and rich literary tradition reflecting both its diversity and its significance as a cultural and commercial centre. Literary London 2008 aims to:

• Read literary and dramatic texts in their historical and social context and in relation to theoretical approaches to the study of the metropolis.
• Investigate the changing cultural and historical geography of London.
• Consider the social, political, and spiritual fears, hopes, and perceptions that have inspired representations of London.
• Trace different traditions of representing London and examine how the pluralism of London society is reflected in London literature.
• Celebrate the contribution London and Londoners have made to English literature and drama.

Submission of proposals for papers and panels

Proposals are invited for 20-minute papers which consider any period or genre of English literature about, set in, inspired by, or alluding to central and suburban London and its environs, from the city’s roots in pre-classical times to the present day. While the main focus of the conference will be on literary texts, we actively encourage interdisciplinary contributions relating film, architecture, geography, theories of urban space, etc., to literary representations of London.

Papers from postgraduate students are welcome for consideration.

While proposals on all topics are encouraged, this year we would especially welcome paper or panel proposals on the theme of ‘Urban Geographies’. Topics that might be addressed are:

• relationships between the disciplines of geography and literary studies, or more generally between words and spaces
• representations of the city, the country, the exotic
• metaphors of geography in literary studies: ‘mapping’, ‘cartography’, ‘space’
• theories of the urban, of town planning, of cityscape, as ‘text’
• particular places, spaces, and the texts they engender
• the geomorphology of London and its literature
• ecological criticism, landscape ecology, climate change, geology, cartography, geomatics, tourism, demography.
• migration studies
• urban spaces and postmodern theory, psychogeography the geography of London’s print culture
• the city as landscape, the landscapes of the city

Abstracts of 200 words for 20-minute papers by Friday 27 March 2009 to: contact@literarylondon.org.

Proposals for comprised panels of three speakers are also welcome.

Organising Committee Literary London Organising Committee: Dr Lawrence Phillips (University of Northampton), Dr Brycchan Carey (Kingston University), and Professor Markman Ellis (Queen Mary, University of London).

Web site www.literarylondon.org

The Annual Literary London conference is mutually supportive of the e-journal of the same name.