Romantic voyagers voyage Romantics at literature conference
victoria-university-of-wellington
Mon Sep 10 2012 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)
Romantic voyagers voyage Romantics at literature conference
Monday, 10 September 2012, 4:43 pm
Press Release: Victoria University of Wellington
10 September 2012
Romantic voyagers voyage the Romantics at literature conference
One of the world’s leading authorities on the Romantic poet John Keats will deliver a keynote lecture at an upcoming Victoria University conference on the works and writers of the Romantic period.
Professor Nicholas Roe, from the University of St Andrews, Scotland, has published extensively on Romantic writers Keats, Wordsworth, Coleridge and Hunt. His visit to Wellington coincides with the publication of a landmark new biography on Keats, published by Yale University Press and authored by Roe, which presents new information on Keats’ formative early years.
Victoria’s Associate Professor of English Heidi Thomson says the book, John Keats: A New Life, uncovers a wealth of detail previously unknown about Keats’ family life and friends.
“Through painstaking, thorough research, Professor Roe has unpacked Keats childhood and early life in ways other books haven’t. He had a harsh, unsettled childhood: his father died when he was eight and his mother perished from tuberculosis when he was 14. He moved a lot around London—to live with his grandmother, to go to boarding school, to different lodgings with his brothers in the City of London—and these years affected his work perhaps more than first realised.
“His take on London, for example, and the geography of the city can be seen in his poetry. But I believe this book will open up new readings and new perspectives on other elements of his works.”
Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
The publication of this seminal book will be celebrated at a launch in advance of the conference, at noon on Thursday 27 September at Victoria University.
Following this, the two-day international conference, Romantic Voyagers—Voyaging the Romantics, hosted by Victoria University’s School of English, Film and Theatre and Media Studies and the Alexander Turnbull Library, will run from 29–30 September.
Other keynotes speakers include Professor Deirdre Coleman (from the University of Melbourne), Professor Frederick Burwick (University of California, Los Angeles), Dr Ruth Lightbourne (Alexander Turnbull Library) and Victoria University Emeritus Professor Vincent O’Sullivan.
For more information about the conference or book launch, visit www.victoria.ac.nz/seftms
ENDS
Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
a.supporter:hover {background:#EC4438!important;} @media screen and (max-width: 480px) { #byline-block div.byline-block {padding-right:16px;}}
Using Scoop for work?
Scoop is free for personal use, but you’ll need a licence for work use. This is part of our Ethical Paywall and how we fund Scoop. Join today with plans starting from less than $3 per week, plus gain access to exclusive Pro features.
Join Pro Individual Find out more
Find more from Victoria University of Wellington on InfoPages.