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
[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
www.shawsociety.org/ISS-Travel-Grants.htm. For details on
registration, accommodations, schedules, etc. (as they become available),
see
bernardshawindublin.yolasite.com or the conference link from
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