CFP: Dublin Shaw Conference at UCD, May 29 - June 1, 2012. Deadline
January 27, 2012.
"G. B. Shaw: Back in Town," a Shaw Conference at University College
Dublin in Dublin, Ireland is co-sponsored by University College
Dublin & the International Shaw Society. Deadline for abstracts &
Travel Grant applications: January 27, 2012.
This conference is focused on Shaw's return to Dublin, so to speak,
to revisit his Irish identity, and papers discussing his Irish
qualities, interrelationships with other Irish, and contributions to
Ireland would be welcomed, along with testimony to his stature in and
influence on world drama, and other topics as well. If you choose to
write on Irish themes, the following summary may be useful.
Dubliner Bernard Shaw was a personal friend of a long list of Irish
writers, the most important of whom were Oscar Wilde, W.B. Yeats,
Augusta Gregory, George Russell ("AE"), and Sean O'Casey. With his
Irish wife, Charlotte Payne-Townshend, they sought to encourage
younger Irish writers, particularly playwrights, including Norreys
Connell ("Conal O'Riordan"), James Hannay ("George Birmingham"),
Lennox Robinson, St. John Ervine, and Dennis Johnston. Shaw was
closely involved with the Abbey Theatre through Yeats and Gregory
right from 1904 through the late 1920s; he was president of the Irish
Academy of Letters during the 1930s. Through his friendship with
Horace Plunkett, the founder of the Irish Co-Operative movement, Shaw
worked hard behind the scenes during the 1917 Irish Convention to
produce a constitutional basis for an independent Ireland. Also
through Plunkett and A.E. he was a major supporter (both in terms of
writing and finance) of the major cultural journal in the new Irish
Free State during the 1920s, the Irish Statesman. He supported James
Connolly and the Dublin workers during the 1913 Dublin Lock-Out; he
worked for the defense of Roger Caement in 1916; he met Michael
Collins; he corresponded with Eamon de Valera (about establishing an
Irish film industry in the 1940s among other matters). And he left
one third of his fortune to the National Gallery of Ireland.
Papers (maximum of twenty minutes per talk) may be written from any
critical perspective. Abstracts of approximately 300 words should be
submitted to
<mailto:[log in to unmask]>[log in to unmask]
for consideration, along with a c.v and brief letter of introduction.
For a form and instructions about travel grant applications, see
<http://www.shawsociety.org/ISS-Travel-Grants.htm>www.shawsociety.org/ISS-Travel-Grants.htm.
For details on registration, accommodations, schedules, etc. (as they
become available), see
<http://bernardshawindublin.yolasite.com/>bernardshawindublin.yolasite.com
or the conference link from <http://www.shawsociety.org>www.shawsociety.org.
Richard F. Dietrich
Treasurer & Webmaster, International Shaw Society
www.shawsociety.org
Membership Application for the ISS can be found on a link from:
www.shawsociety.org/2012-Membership-Form-&-Benefits.htm
ISS Grants & Scholarships for Emerging Scholars
www.shawsociety.org/ISS-Travel-Grants.htm
