Elizabeth Bowen: Blurring Boundaries

University of Bedfordshire, 8th June 2019

Call for Papers

Keynote Speakers: Professor Andrew Bennett (University of Bristol)

Professor Nicholas Royle (University of Sussex)

 The Elizabeth Bowen Society is delighted to announce its second international conference. Recent years have seen a growing and sustained interest in Bowen’s work, which can be read through a wide variety of literary approaches.  No longer thought of as a writer on the margins of Bloomsbury, Bowen rightly occupies a central place in our understanding of both the twentieth century and twentieth-century literature.  

The aim of this conference is to continue the re-evaluation of Bowen’s body of work, and we welcome abstracts that will add to our understanding of both the writer and the novels, short stories and other prose she produced. Selected papers will be considered for publication in The Elizabeth Bowen Review. 

We invite abstracts of 300 words for 20 minute papers.  Possible themes may include (but are not limited to): 

Bowen and modernism

Bowen and feminism

Narratological approaches to Bowen’s fiction

Bowen’s literary connections with other writers

Psychological approaches to Bowen’s fiction

Bowen’s journalistic work

Bowen, Ireland and Irishness

Bowen and the short story

Bowen, war and trauma

Bowen as a comic writer 

Abstracts should be sent to the organisers, Dr Nick Turner and Dr Nicola Darwood (bowen@beds.ac.uk) by 28th February 2019.  Please include a short biography.  You will receive notification of acceptance by 14th March 2019. 

The conference will be held at the Polhill Campus of the University of Bedfordshire, Polhill Avenue, Bedford MK41 9AE.  

More information will be posted on the conference website (www.beds.ac.uk/bowen - coming soon), the website of the Elizabeth Bowen Society (www.bowensociety.com)

Twitter (@bowensociety) and Facebook (Elizabeth Bowen Society)