Paper proposals are welcome on any aspect of Hardy’s life, work, and legacy for the Twenty-Sixth International Hardy Conference and Festival in Dorchester, UK, from July 27th—August 3rd 2024.

Several significant Hardy anniversaries occur in 2024, including the 150th anniversary of Far from the Madding Crowd, the 130th anniversary of Life's Little Ironies, and the 90th anniversary of Satires of Circumstance (which contains the 'Poems of 1912-13'). Proposals for papers on the poetry are especially welcome.Papers should be planned for delivery times of a maximum of 20 minutes (approximately 2000 words).Like its predecessors, the 2024 Conference is designed to appeal both to Hardy scholars and to general readers.  We invite proposals from established scholars, Hardy enthusiasts, early-career researchers, independent scholars, and postgraduate students. Confirmed lecturers include Anna Burton, Pamela Dalziel, Isabelle Gadoin, Oindrila Ghosh, Phillip Mallett and Jeremy Newton. Lectures and conference papers will be supplemented by excursions and entertainments relating to the local context which Hardy’s work celebrates, and from which it emerged. 

Proposals (absolute maximum 300 words) should be sent by email to Dr Mary Rimmer at mrimmer@unb.ca. Each must be accompanied by a short biographical note (75 words or less) on a separate page. These notes will not be consulted during the vetting process but will be used by panel chairs to introduce speakers during the conference. 

All submissions will be read and adjudicated by an academic panel.  The closing date is  1 February 2024. The best of the papers given at the Conference will be considered for publication in the peer-reviewed Thomas Hardy Journal appearing in Autumn 2024.Please note that all submissions will be acknowledged: if the submission is not acknowledged within four business days, the proposer should re-send. Any graduate student whose proposal is successful will be able to apply to the Thomas Hardy Society for a bursary.