Posted by on 2020-04-23

Call for Papers: 'An Overflow of Meaning: Reading and Re-Reading Hilary Mantel'

The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, California, 15-16th October 2021

Hilary Mantel is one of the most critically acclaimed authors working today. Her unprecedented double Booker Prize wins for Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies combined with sell-out West End and Broadway stage adaptations and award winning television dramatizations bring her to unquestionable public prominence: prominence which is only growing with the announcement this summer of the upcoming publication of the final book in the Cromwell trilogy, The Mirror and the Light. While Mantel’s Tudor novels are responsible for bringing her to wider public notice, they constitute only one element of a writing career which has spanned nearly 34 years, troubled myriad genres, and explored multiple forms. Though 2020 will necessarily see a multitude of critical and scholarly responses to Mantel’s long-awaited third Cromwell novel, this is also a moment when the richness and diversity of her literary output is ready to be foregrounded for both the scholarly community and for her broad and dedicated general readership. ‘Reading and Re-Reading Hilary Mantel’ constitutes the first international conference on Mantel’s work and seeks to act as a ‘state of the field’ event, bringing a diverse range of Mantel scholars together to consider the complex presences and resonances of Mantel’s work in the twenty-first century. 35-40 minute papers are sought on any aspect of Mantel’s output and topics may include but are not limited to: - The relationship of Mantel’s work to other contemporary authors. - Mantel and life-writing. - Mantel and genre. - Mantel, the medical humanities and narratives of illness. - Postcoloniality in the work of Mantel. - Mantel and gender. - Mantel outside of the novel. - Mantel’s work in adaptation: Theatre, Television and Radio. - Theorising Mantel’s work. - Mantel and Pedagogy.

Instructions for Submission:

Deadline: 6pm July 31st 2020

Papers will be given before a public audience that extends beyond the speakers participating in the program and are expected to be 35-40 minutes in length. Paper proposals should be 300 words maximum including a title and five to eight key words. Please submit proposals along with a brief CV to Rereadinghilarymantel@worc.ac.uk.

A collection of essays is likely to follow from the proceedings of this conference. For academic questions relating to the conference please email the conference organisers: Dr Lucy Arnold (lucy.arnold@worc.ac.uk) or Dr Eileen Pollard (e.pollard@chester.ac.uk)

The Huntington is delighted to be able to offer full reimbursement of the travel expenses (including economy round-trip airfare and ground transportation for those who are selected to participate. Speakers traveling from continental North America will receive 3 nights’ accommodation at the Caltech Athenaeum; those traveling from overseas will receive 4 nights.

For logistical enquiries, please contact Catherine Wehrey-Miller, Assistant to the Director of Research at The Huntington, at cwehrey@huntington.org