“‘Michael Field’ and Their World: An Educational Weekend”
to be held at the University of Delaware, Newark, DE
27- 29 February 2004
CALL FOR PAPERS
This event will be the first scholarly conference devoted to examining the
lives and literary achievements of the British poets and playwrights
Katherine (often spelled “Katharine”) Bradley (1846-1914) and Edith Cooper
(1862-1913), the lesbian couple who wrote and published collaboratively under
the pseudonym of “Michael Field.” At the same time, this weekend will
explore and illuminate the late-Victorian intellectual and cultural milieu
surrounding them, by focusing upon the visual artists (including the
Pre-Raphaelite and Aesthetic painters) who influenced them; the many famous
friends (such as Oscar Wilde, Walter Pater, Robert Browning, John Ruskin,
“Vernon Lee,” William Rothenstein, George Meredith, and Bernard Berenson)
who formed their social circle; and the avant-garde publishers and designers
who produced their books (including John Lane and Elkin Mathews, along with
Charles Ricketts and Charles Shannon). The conference organizers welcome
proposals that address any of these subjects, as well as those that consider
their groundbreaking work as educated women who entered the masculine spheres
of Classical scholarship, art criticism, and Victorian drama, and as sexual
dissidents who also became Catholic converts. Already the subject of recent
studies by British, Irish, and American scholars, “Michael Field” are the
center of a transatlantic revival of interest, studied for their approaches
to feminism, aestheticism, female sexuality, collaborative creativity,
spirituality, and journal writing. In keeping with their interdisciplinary
cultural vision, the weekend will include a visit to the Delaware Art Museum,
home of one of the largest and finest collections of Pre-Raphaelite art.
The organizers request 1-2 page proposals for 15-20 minute papers.
Please send proposals before 15 July 2003 via email or regular mail to:
Margaret D. Stetz
Mae & Robert Carter Professor of Women’s Studies
Ewing Hall 109
University of Delaware
Newark, DE 19716
Chavvy@aol.com
OR
Mark Samuels Lasner
Senior Research Fellow
University of Delaware Library
Newark, DE 19717
marksl@udel.edu
Biblio@aol.com