Transmission: Hari Kunzru workshop and conversation
May27

Transmission: Hari Kunzru workshop and conversation

Friday 20th June 2014 The Centre for Contemporary Literature will host a workshop on novelist Hari Kunzru from 3pm, at 43 Gordon Square, Birkbeck. The event is organized by Bianca Leggett, Churnjeet Mahn and Bran Nicol, in association with the University of Surrey, and sponsored by the AHRC project The Memory Network. The workshop will act as a forum for debate between Kunzru scholars, with an eye to planning an essay collection provisionally titled Reading Hari Kunzru.  Bloomsbury have expressed an interest in a Hari Kunzru study as part of their single author series and the day will provide an opportunity to exchange ideas as to the angles which the book might cover. (Please do come along whether or not you would like to contribute to this collection; equally, attendance is not obligatory for those who would like to contribute.) The workshop will be followed by a short break, after which you are invited to our evening event, 'A Conversation with Hari Kunzru'.  Hari Kunzru has confirmed his attendance: he will be giving a short reading from his new multi-modal essay 'Twice Upon a Time' followed by an interview, which will be opened up to the audience for a general Q&A followed by a wine reception.  Attendance is free but places are limited. Workshop Programme 3.00      Introductions  3.10     Mini-papers (Please contact organizer Dr Bianca Leggett if you would like to contribute a mini-paper or short presentation of 5-10 minutes) 4.00      Workshop discussion of short story 'The Maestro's Loss' (please read in advance of session) 4.30       On Reading Hari Kunzru.  A more general debate of Kunzru's work and the critical discourse which surrounds it.   5.00        Planning session for essay collection.  We will end by plotting out the areas to be covered by the essay collection and the announcement of a schedule for contributors.   5.45         End of workshop. The event with Hari Kunzru is to be held at 7pm in room 114, the Keynes Library. Contact: bianca.leggett@gmail.com   Tweet   CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO A PODCAST OF THE Q&A WITH HARI KUNZRU AND BIANCA LEGGETT.   Image by Indigo Skies Photography under a CC BY-ND...

Read More
Transitions 5: Call for Papers
May27

Transitions 5: Call for Papers

TRANSITIONS 5 – New Directions in Comics Studies Saturday October 25th 2014 at Birkbeck, University of London Call for Papers Keynote: Dr. Jason Dittmer (UCL, Captain America & the Nationalist Superhero) Respondent: Dr. Roger Sabin, Central Saint Martins, Comics, Comix & Graphic Novels) We are pleased to announce the call for papers for the forthcoming 5th Transitions symposium, promoting new research and multi-disciplinary academic study of comics/ comix/ manga/ bande dessinée and other forms of sequential art. By deliberately not appointing a set theme, we hope to put together a programme reflecting the diversity of comics studies.  We welcome abstracts for twenty minute papers as well as proposals for panels. Possible topics include, but are not limited to: text-oriented approaches – studies of key creators – historical and contemporary studies of production and circulation of comics – readerships and fan cultures – critical reception – formats, platforms and contexts – the (im)materiality of comics – archival concerns – formalist/narratological approaches – comics and aesthetics – adaptation, convergence and remediation – international iterations and transnational comics – children’s comics – political comics – comics and cultural theory – ideological/discursive critiques – web comics – graphic medicine – non-fiction comics – comics as historiography – comics practice and theory– cultural histories/geographies… Abstracts for twenty minute papers should be no more than 250 – 300 words.  Proposals for papers and panels should be sent as Word documents, with a short biography appended, and submitted by the 30th of July 2014 to Hallvard, Tony and Nina at transitions.symposium@gmail.com. Transitions is supported by Comica, The Centre for Contemporary Literature (Birkbeck), and the Contemporary Fiction Seminar. See below for the conference programme. CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE CONFERENCE PROGRAMME READ THE CONFERENCE REPORT HERE   Tweet     Image by John...

Read More
Stranger Than Fiction: an Evening with Travis Elborough
May12

Stranger Than Fiction: an Evening with Travis Elborough

Wednesday 21 May 2014 6-7:30pm, Waterstone's Gower Street As part of Birkbeck's Arts Week 2014, the author Travis Elborough will be appearing at Waterstone's bookshop in Gower Street to discuss his work. Travis Elborough has most recently become known for co-editing the bestselling volume A London Year (2013) with Nick Rennison. For each day of the year, the book offers excerpts from numerous London diarists throughout the city's modern history. Prior to this project, Travis had already published extensively on a distinctive range of topics. His books include The Bus We Loved (2005), a history of the Routemaster; The Long Player Goodbye (2008), a study of vinyl LP records also published in the United States as The Vinyl Countdown (2009); Wish You Were Here (2010) on the English seaside; and the unusual slice of cultural history London Bridge in America (2013). He has also co-written the brand new film How We Used To Live (2014) by director Paul Kelly and the members of the pop group Saint Etienne. The film uses archive footage of post-war London, from which the image above is taken. At this special event in Waterstone's, Travis (pictured below) will reflect on diaries, London, and the practice of historical research and non-fictional writing that unites his diverse body of work. The event is free: you can reserve a place here.   Tweet   Author Image: David X....

Read More