Louis Macneice: Centenary Conference And Celebration: September 2007

Deadline for abstracts: May 31, 2007

The poet Louis MacNeice (1907-1963) was born in Belfast on 12 September 1907. He is central to the history of modern poetry in Ireland and Britain. His life and work also exemplify the complexity of literary, cultural and political intercourse between Ireland and Britain during the twentieth century. In September 2007 leading critics and poets will gather in Belfast to explore and celebrate his achievement. They include: Jonathan Allison, Simon Armitage, Terence Brown, Neil Corcoran, Valentine Cunningham, Paul Farley, Michael Longley, Peter McDonald, Medbh McGuckian, Derek Mahon, Sinead Morrissey, Paul Muldoon, Don Paterson, Jon Stallworthy and Clair Wills. Papers are invited on MacNeice's poetry, prose and plays; his place in modern poetry and relation to Modernism; his literary, cultural and political contexts in Ireland and Britain; his relation to precursors such as W.B. Yeats and T.S. Eliot; his relation to contemporaries such as W.H. Auden; his influence on later poets; his intellectual world; his literary criticism; his role as a broadcaster. To propose a paper (time limit: 20 minutes), please send a 200-word summary and a short biography to Dr Leontia Flynn l.flynn@qub.ac.uk. For general enquiries, contact Professor Edna Longley e.longley@qub.ac.uk. For further information see the Seamus Heaney Centre website where details of the conference will be updated as appropriate.