[Vwoolf] Postmodernist Biofiction: a one-day conference

[Neverow, Vara S.]

Potentially of interest...

Postmodernist Biofiction: a one-day conference in the Department of English
Literature at the University of Reading.

Saturday 25 March 2017, HumSS
Organisers: Dr Bethany Layne and Dr Madeleine Davies (Department
 of English Literature)

Students and colleagues are warmly invited to attend this one-day
conference where key speakers include authors David Lodge, Susan Sellers
and Maggie Gee.

Biofiction is a much-debated form blending the traditional genres of
‘biography’ and ‘fiction’ to produce a postmodernist splicing where
questions of ‘fact’ and ‘truth’ are held up for scrutiny. In the modern
era, biofictions have proliferated and texts such as David Lodge’s Author
Author (focused upon Henry James), Susan Sellers’ Vanessa and Virginia
(centralising the relationship between Virginia Woolf and her sister
Vanessa Bell), Kate Moses’ Wintering (concerning the final months in the
life of Sylvia Plath) and Maggie Gee’s Virginia Woolf in Manhatten
(imagining a temporarily reborn Woolf exploring contemporary New York) have
achieved heightened critical and academic attention.

The Postmodernist Biofiction conference involves a selection of academic
panels (including a student panel), keynote addresses and an interview with
David Lodge; the discussions throughout the day will investigate a range of
issues involved in this curious genre.  Papers will be delivered on the
postmodern construction of the subject, the representation of the female
‘artist’ in biofiction, US conspiracy theory presidential biofictions, and
there will be debate about the ’ethics’ of a genre where ‘fiction’ connects
with biographical ‘fact’ in novels about ‘real people’.

We would like to involve our students in this event so please do join in if
you have an interest in this fascinating topic. Colleagues from the
University are also invited; come and hear David Lodge, Susan Sellers and
Maggie Gee, as well as a range of academics and students, and contribute to
the discussion about the intriguing textual hybrid known as biofiction.

For further information, please see our Twitter page and/or contact Dr
Bethany Layne (b.layne at reading.ac.uk) or Dr Madeleine Davies
(m.k.davies at reading.ac.uk)

http://www.store.reading.ac.uk/conferences-and-events/faculty-of-arts-humanities-social-science/english-literature-department/postmodernist-biofiction
Postmodernist Biofiction | UoR Events system<http://www.store.reading.ac.uk/conferences-and-events/faculty-of-arts-humanities-social-science/english-literature-department/postmodernist-biofiction>
www.store.reading.ac.uk
A one-day conference held at the University of Reading with Maggie Gee, David Lodge, and Susan Sellers The event is free to Reading University students.



£30 standard
£15 unwaged
Free to University of Reading students

Vara Neverow
English Department
Southern Connecticut State University
New Haven, CT 06851
neverowv1 at southernct.edu
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