Call for Papers: Fantasy Ireland, Imaginings and Re-Imaginings

Fantasy Ireland, Imaginings and Re-Imaginings

Following the success of the previous six international Irish Studies conferences, the University of Sunderland, in association with NEICN, is soliciting papers for an interdisciplinary conference, which will run from 13-15th November 2009. The conference will begin with a plenary lecture on 13th November; there will be a book launch and wine reception on the Friday evening and a ceilidh and conference banquet on Saturday 14th November.

The conference organisers hope to represent a wide range of approaches to Irish culture from academics and non-academics alike. Performances, roundtables, collaborative projects, and other non-traditional presentations are encouraged in addition to conference papers. We welcome both individual submissions and proposals for panels. As with previous year’s conference, we welcome submissions for panels and papers under the thematic headings of Fantasy Ireland : Imaginings and Re-imaginings in the following areas: Literature, Performing Arts, History, Politics, Folklore and Mythology, Ireland in Theory, Gender and Ireland Anthropology, Sociology, Geography, Tourism, Art and Art History, Music, Dance, Media and Film Studies, Cultural Studies, and Studies of the Diaspora. North American and other international scholars, practitioners in the arts, and postgraduate students are all encouraged to submit proposals to the conference organisers.

Each session will include three or four 20-minute presentations each followed by discussion. A selection of the accepted papers will be subsequently published in the conference proceedings.
The University of Sunderland houses the North East Irish Culture Network, established in 2003 to further the study of Irish Literature and Culture (see www.neicn.com). It has held six previous conferences. Previous speakers include Terry Eagleton, Robert Welch, Luke Gibbons, Ailbhe Smith, Kevin Barry, Siobhan Kilfeather, Shaun Richards, Lance Pettitt, Stephen Regan, Lord David Puttnam, Andrew Carpenter, John Nash and Willy Maley, with readings from Ciaran Carson Medbh McGuckian, Bernard O’Donoghue and Eilis Ni Dhuibhne. In 2008, the English department at Durham was the recipient of a Leverhulme Major Research Grant to sponsor its project ‘Consumer Culture, Advertising and Literature in ireland 1848-1921’.