bibliography and history of the book

In the heart of their communities and repositories of some of the most independent cultural collections in the UK, independent libraries are social, educational, working spaces which deliver numerous personal benefits to those who use them. This year’s theme is inspired by Ray Oldenburg’s The Great Good Place (1989), in which Oldenberg discusses the desirable ‘third place’: public places where anyone can gather and interact. Unlike the first place (home) and the second place (work), third spaces offer inexpensive access to discussion, pleasure, and community, leading to social cohesion, civic engagement, and the wellbeing that comes from a sense of place. Third spaces can be cafes, main streets, coffeehouses, beer gardens…

The Reception Study Society will sponsor a panel at the American Literature Association Conference 31st Annual Conference held in San Diego, California, May 21-24, 2020.

'Making connections: women’s writing 1918-1939' is a one-day conference which will be held at the University of Bedfordshire (Bedford campus) on 6th June 2020. 

The interwar period was a time of experimentation in form, but also a time when networks enabled new writers to form connections with each other and with the publishing community.  This conference will focus on those networks, both formal and informal, between writers and writers, and with publishers, film makers, and literary, political and artistic movements. 

Abstracts are invited for papers on women writers from the UK, from Europe and across the world who were writing and publishing between 1918 and 1939.

Revolutions in Reading: Literary Practice in Transition

As Sarah Lawall stated in her essay, the world-literature perspective is not one, but multiple. By looking at literature comparatively, we can enrich our understanding of the historical and cultural context of the literary works, to look over the horizon of our own tradition and to see how cultures interact.The conference will consider the theory and the practice of comparative literature and will discuss the transformations and travels of literary genres and texts across time and space. It will explore the connections of literature with history, philosophy, politics, and literary theory, and study the intersections of literature with other cultural forms such as film, visual arts, music and media.Topics may include, but are not limited to: