On Miracle Ground XVI
Durrell and the City: Reconstructing the Urban Landscape
Call for Papers
'The city, half-imagined (yet wholly real) begins and ends in us,
roots lodged in our memory." from Balthazar
July 7-10, 2010
Hotel Monteleone, New Orleans
This conference is sponsored by The International Lawrence Durrell
Society and Louisiana Tech University.
On Miracle Ground XVI will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the publication of The Alexandria Quartet with a reassessment of the cities, especially Alexandria, that have been associated with Durrell's life and work. We will encourage a variety of perspectives and theoretical approaches -- historical, biographical, sociological, psychoanalytic, textual, and cultural -- in order to create a "multiple-mirror" effect and explore how Durrell's cities are really the major "characters" in his fiction.
The conference will be held in New Orleans, a city that is itself being reassessed and reconstructed after the devastating hurricane of 2005. Although Durrell never visited New Orleans, he did suggest the city would make a perfect setting for an "American Quartet." Indeed, the Crescent City -- with its mix of races, languages, and religions; its reputation for sensual indulgence; and its annual celebration of Carnival -- is more closely aligned with Durrell's Alexandria than any other American city. Through concurrent sessions, papers will establish the links between the host city and Alexandria as well as explore other themes and topics related to Durrell’s urban landscapes.
Some of the possible themes include the following: Multi-cultural Worlds (French, Spanish, English, African, Native-American, and Caribbean): New Orleans and Alexandria; Gastronomic Durrell; Musical Durrell; The Carnivalesque: Masks, Murder, and Mayhem; Literary New Orleans/Literary Alexandria; Love, Lust, and Lechery: Sex and the City; French Durrell; Creole Durrell; Durrell and the American Experience; Religious Practices (Voodoo, Vampirism, Catholicism, Gnosticism, Cabalism); Durrell’s Vast Ghost: History, Hauntings, and Authors; Decadence and Separatism (Alexandria and Egypt/New Orleans and Louisiana). All sessions will take place in the newly renovated Hotel Monteleone, on Royal Street, at the heart of the French Quarter.
SUBMISSION INFORMATION
Submit all proposals by email to Donald P. Kaczvinsky at dkaczv@latech.edu by January 1, 2010. Use the subject heading "Durrell and the
City." The proposal should be attached as a Word Document and include the following:
- Name of presenter, rank, and university affiliation (if any)
- Paper title
- Return address
- 250-word abstract of the paper topic
- Brief (1 paragraph) biography for the conference program
- Requests for specific material (recorder, video projector, or other equipment)
Formal letters of acceptance will be sent by February 17, 2010.
Two panels will be reserved just for graduate students, and a $100 cash award will be given for the best paper by a graduate student.
REGISTRATION INFORMATION
Registration for the conference is due by May 1, 2010.
Registration Fee :: $125
Late Registration Fee :: $150 (after May 1st)
Graduate Students :: $50
Late Registration Fee (Student) :: $70 (after May 1st)
Send a check or money order in American dollars to:
Paul Lorenz
University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff
Mail Stop 4980
Pine Bluff, AR
71601, USA
Email: paullorenz@sbcglobal.net
HOTEL INFORMATION
The conference has reserved rooms at the Hotel Monteleone for all participants at the rate of $129/night. For reservations, contact the hotel directly at 504-708-4668 and ask for "Durrell and the City." You may also visit the hotel website at http://hotelmonteleone.com.
The Monteleone will provide free continental breakfast for all participants staying at the hotel.
For those looking for other accommodations, contact the New Orleans Visitors Bureau at http://www.neworleanscvb.com/.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Donald P. Kaczvinsky, President
The International Lawrence Durrell Society
Department of English
Louisiana Tech University
Ruston, LA
71272, USA
dkaczv@latech.edu
