Round Up

This blog has lain dormant during what has been a hectic few months for me, so here, by way of explanation, is a round up of some of the things I've been doing. I will be a more diligent blogger hereafter.

Much of my time has been spent finishing, then editing, my forthcoming anthology: Poetry of the First World War. It will be published in hardback by Oxford World's Classics in October this year. I was trying to do more than throw together the familiar poems. There are, I hope, some surprising choices among the usual suspects, but I've also written detailed introductions for each of the represented poets, and the editorial apparatus includes date, location, explanation of allusions, etc. An introduction looks back over the century to see how social and political pressures have shaped the canon at different times.

I've also been making a programme for BBC 4 on Ivor Gurney. The production team, Other Roads, has been saintly in its dealings with this tyro presenter. We have filmed in France and Belgium, and at some of Gurney's favourite locations around Gloucestershire. I've been very lucky to interview such illustrious experts along the way: Piet Chielens, Philip Lancaster, Kate Kennedy, P. J. Kavanagh, Eleanor Rawling. There is still a bit more filming to be done in Kent and Gloucester. The programme will be broadcast in 2014, with the title Ivor Gurney: The Poet Who Loved the War. Fear not: this is not intended to imply that Gurney was a crazed warmonger. We are looking particularly at the surprising fact that Gurney suffered breakdowns before and after the War, and that he joined the army deliberately to give himself 'real things' rather than 'imaginary' to worry about (as he put it). Gurney hoped that the physical exertion would help his mental health, and to some extent he was right.

My third task has been to begin preparations for the centenary conference of First World War poetry, which will be held in Wadham College, Oxford, on 5-7 September 2014. I am convening it on behalf of the English Association. Plenary speakers include Edna Longley and Jay Winter, with a special concert by Roderick Williams performing some war-related songs.There will be multiple panels, with academics and relevant poetry societies represented. Numbers are strictly limited, so if you're interested in attending and/or giving a paper, don't hang around.

Finally, I have made a small contribution to a terrific project run by Catriona Pennell and Ann-Marie Einhaus to consider how the First World War is taught in schools. If you are a teacher who would like to take part --- and to complete a survey --- please click here. You can also follow progress on Twitter (@ww1classroom) and on Facebook.

British Poetry of the First World War: Centenary Conference

The English Association's Centenary Conference on British Poetry of the First World War will take place at Wadham College, Oxford, on 5-7 September 2014. As well as scholars from around the world, many of the relevant poetry societies will be taking part. More details will follow in due course, including information about keynote speakers, accommodation and costs. Please get in touch via my Exeter email address (here) if you would like to be kept up to date as plans develop.

Edited to add: please note the revised date, as listed above.

Golding and War

Next Monday, 19 September 2011, is the centenary of William Golding's birth. Together with my colleague Adeline Johns-Putra, I am organising the centenary conference in Cornwall (Golding's native county) this weekend. If you are lucky enough to be in the Duchy with time on your hands, come along to one of the plenaries: Golding's daughter, Judy, will be speaking at 3pm on Friday 16 September, and John Carey at 11am on Sunday 18th. The venue for both talks is the Chapel Lecture Theatre in Tremough House on the University of Exeter's Cornwall Campus.

Before anyone asks what this has to do with war poetry, let me explain that Golding started his writing career as a poet (if you find his pamphlet in a second-hand shop, I will buy it from you for a tenner), and he later wrote a great deal about the Second World War. To prove the point, my own talk at the conference is titled 'Golding and War'.

Events: Gurney, Dymock, Great War Poetry

This Saturday, 10 September, at 4pm in LT1 of the Queen's Building, University of Exeter, the Convocation Lecture will be devoted to the works of Ivor Gurney. I will be reading unpublished poems, and Philip Lancaster and Helen Jones Johnson will be performing the world premiere of several of Gurney's songs. All are welcome, but please book in advance.

The Friends of the Dymock Poets will hold their AGM weekend on 1-2 October 2011 at Colwall Village Hall. On Saturday, Tim Brewis will speak on Edward Thomas, Peter Howarth on Eddie Marsh, and Jon Stallworthy on Gurney, Owen, Rosenberg and Thomas. The following day, there will be a literary walk around Bosbury, and in the Great Hall of Malvern College, a performance of some more songs by Gurney.

Finally, a date for your diaries. The English Association's Centenary Conference of the Poetry of the Great War, organised by yours truly, will be taking place in Oxford three years from today. The relevant poetry societies will all be participating. To see more details as they become available, keep reading this blog, or look here.

Who Chooses the War Poets?

is the title of Adrian Barlow's public lecture at the Morison Room of Cambridge University Library on Tuesday 9 November at 5.30pm. Details here.

Next day, Wednesday 10 November at 5.30pm in the Mountbatten Room, Royal Overseas League in London, Richard Duncan will be speaking on 'Kipling in Vernet les Bains, France'.

And on Remembrance Sunday, 14 November, at 4.30pm, Radio 4, Martin Sorrell will be presenting 'Oh What a Lively War' (scroll two-thirds of the way down the link), a programme dedicated to French First World War poet Guillaume Apollinaire. I will be holding forth, alongside Susan Harrow and Brian Turner. Paul McGann will be reading Apollinaire's poetry in translation.

War Poetry Review

The new issue of War Poetry Review, the journal of the War Poets Association, is now published. Essays include Jean Liddiard on Rosenberg, Derek Shiel on David Jones, and Stuart Lee and Kate Lindsay on the First World War Poetry Digital Archive. You can view the full list of contents here.

Update: In other news, a conference on 'Tales of War' has been announced to take place in Bucharest next July. I admit that I can't make head nor tail of the Call for Papers: 'As a phenomenological issue, as the privileged subject matter of cultural debates, historiography, theology, philosophy, interpretation strategies and anthropological research the problematic of war appears to illustrate and confirm, beyond Eliade's "terror of history" or Ricoeur's "hermeneutics of suspicion", the correlatives of subjectivity, as well as a richly connotative "existential heritage" of the "fallable man".' Etc.

Forthcoming Events

Here is a round-up of forthcoming events.

On Saturday 2 October, in Malvern, the Friends of the Dymock Poets will be holding their AGM weekend. Jill Dawson will speak on Rupert Brooke, Jacek Wisniewski on Frost and Thomas, and Jean Moorcroft Wilson on Thomas alone. There will be a literary walk the next day.

Jean Moorcroft Wilson will also be appearing in Bristol on 23 October, alongside Bernard Wynick, Vivien Noakes and Jean Liddiard. Organised by the War Poets Association, the day consists of a conference on Bristol-born Isaac Rosenberg's work and an 'optional walk'.

The Ivor Gurney Society has organised a four-day trip to Ypres, which will include a visit to the newly-raised memorial to Gurney. The trip costs £300 per person, and runs from 7-10 October.

The College English Association of America has announced a call for papers on the theme of 'War and Literature'. The submission deadline is 1 November, for a panel which will take place at the conference in St Petersburg, Florida, on 31 March-2 April 2011.

In other news --- thanks to Philip Lancaster's Herculean efforts, the first part of the Ivor Gurney catalogue has now gone live, and can be searched here.

And finally... a beer brewed to celebrate the life and works of Wilfred Owen has helped to raise £460 for the church in which he served as a lay assistant. No mention is made of the fact that Owen suffered a religious crisis, fell out with the vicar, and left in mysterious circumstances.

'Murder will out, and I have murdered my false creed', he wrote to his mother. We can only imagine what might have been Owen's reaction to the beer's name: Wilfred's Mild.

Sassoon so soon

With admirable speed, Cambridge University has released the film of the Siegfried Sassoon panel discussion, which took place at the University Library on 20 July. Speakers, in order of appearance, are Jon Stallworthy, Max Egremont, Santanu Das, and 'blogographer' Tim Kendall. It can be viewed here.

The exhibition of Sassoon's papers is open until 23 December, and is highly recommended.

Sassoonery

On 21 July, an exhibition dedicated to the life and work of Siegfried Sassoon will open in Cambridge at the University Library. This will mark the success of the university's campaign to save Sassoon's papers for the nation.

The previous day, I will be speaking with Max Egremont, Santanu Das and Jon Stallworthy in Cambridge on all matters Sassoonian. Details to follow.

The archivists have started a lively blog (yes, really!) which describes their work on the papers and their preparations for the exhibition's opening.

Isaac Rosenberg in Bristol

The events are coming thick and fast. Here, courtesy of the War Poets Association, is another one: 'Isaac Rosenberg and Bristol', a 120th anniversary celebration on Saturday 23 October. Already booked to speak are Vivien Noakes, Jean Moorcroft-Wilson and Bernard Wynick. The day will also include 'an optional walk to the venue past the birthplace of Isaac Rosenberg'.

War Poetry Events

Time for a summary of what is past, or passing, or to come.

You can find a podcast of the Oxford Literary Festival discussion of war poetry here at George Simmers' blog. I feature in it, so I can't bring myself to listen. Also speaking were Jon Stallworthy, Elaine Feinstein, and David Harsent.

Here, courtesy of the University of Oxford's First World War Digital Archive, you can listen to a number of podcasts and lectures, including my own on Ivor Gurney and the phrase 'war poet', which I gave at King's College, Cambridge, last summer.

This weekend, 15-16 May, will see the annual meeting of the Ivor Gurney Society, in Churchdown, Gloucester. On Saturday there will be talks by Roderic Dunnett and Rolf Jordan, and a song recital given by Philip Lancaster (baritone) and Andrew Plant (piano). Graham Middleton leads a 'Gurney poetry walk' on Sunday.

I have blogged already about the forthcoming study day devoted to Rudyard Kipling's Boer War poem 'The Absent-Minded Beggar'. It will take place in Bristol on 19 June. Speakers include Peter Bailey, John Lee, Andrew Lycett, Simon Potter, Edward M Spiers, and yours truly.

The Robert Graves Society will be holding its Tenth International Robert Graves Conference at Mallorca on 6-10 July. A highlight will be a visit to Robert Graves's home, which has been meticulously restored by William Graves and has been open to the public since 2006.

An event is being planned in Cambridge on 20 July to mark the launch of an exhibition devoted to Siegfried Sassoon. Cambridge University Library successfully raised £1.25m to buy the residual Sassoon archive. More details to follow.

Finally, a new war poetry website, with political verse speaking out against the war in Iraq.

War and Civilization

Jon Stallworthy sends me details of a forthcoming lecture series at Wolfson College, Oxford, titled 'War and Civilization'. The line-up is extremely impressive:

29 April Niall Ferguson: War and Finance
6 May Geoffrey Hill: War and Poetry
13 May Marina Warner: War and Pity
20 May Ian Buruma: War and Liberation.

The lectures start at 6pm in the Hall of Wolfson College, Oxford. All are welcome.

Poetry and War at the Oxford Literary Festival

On Friday 26 March, I will be going back to my old college, Christ Church, to take part in a panel discussion at the Oxford Literary Festival. The topic is 'Poetry and War', with fellow panelists Elaine Feinstein, David Harsent and Jon Stallworthy. Francine Stock is chairing the event, which starts at 6pm. See here for tickets and further details.

Children and War

An international conference titled 'Children and War' will be held in Salzburg from 30 September to 2 October 2010. The conference is organised by the University of Salzburg and the University of Wolverhampton. The deadline for papers is 31 December.

War Poet

The Cambridge conference was hugely enjoyable. I've been to one or two conferences lately where the standard of papers was jaw-droppingly poor. What sort of service do scholars think they're providing when they read their talks, head down, in a mumbling monotone? Or at top speed to cram in as much as possible? To add insult to injury, the worst papers always overrun.

Although train timetables and parallel panels conspired against me, the sessions that I did manage to see in Cambridge were excellent. Subjects ranged from Great War childrearing attitudes, to discussion of musical activities at Ruhleben concentration camp. There were strong poetry talks from Pamela Coren (whose lively determination to dismiss the entire accentual-syllabic tradition at least had the virtue of promoting debate) and John Melillo (on the representation of sound and noise in Great War poetry).

My own talk featured general speculation about the term 'war poetry' and its rise to common usage after 1917, Lord Flashheart's opinions on the war (from 8:05 to 8:20 here), and eventually, a focus on Ivor Gurney's gradual self-designation as 'war poet'.

Above is an envelope from a letter Gurney sent in 1923, the year in which he first applies the phrase to himself. On the back, as you can see, he has written 'War poet'. (What looks like an 's' is in fact a full stop.) According to Philip Lancaster, with whom I'm editing a 3-volume Complete Gurney for Oxford English Texts, this seems to have been an unlikely ruse to get Royal Mail to deliver his unstamped post. It also acts as a seal, pledge and proof of his identity. The war poet is exiled from his republic not (as Plato has it) because he lies, but because he tells a truth which exposes the founding fictions of his society. The more that Gurney calls himself 'war poet', the more he explains the reasons why his nation has betrayed him. By 1925, he is 'First War Poet' -- the pioneer and the exemplar.

Postscript: At the conference the First World War Poetry Archive announced the launch of its Ivor Gurney Collection. This newly available material includes unpublished poems, correspondence, photographs, etc., from the period up to (about) 1921. Highly recommended.

First World War --- Literature, Music and Memory

This weekend, 11-12 July at King's College, Cambridge, the 'First World War --- Literature, Music and Memory' conference will be taking place. You can view the programme here. I'm speaking at 9.15 on Saturday morning. My title: 'Ivor Gurney: First War Poet'.

Update: Read my account of the conference here.

Caen and War

The bombing of Caen by the Allies in 1944 was 'close to a war crime', according to Antony Beevor. In one respect, it is hard not to admire that weaselly phrase 'close to'. Beevor has managed to generate a lucrative controversy which will shift a few of his books, while keeping a bolt-hole into which he can flee when pursued. 'The whole thing is a grey area', he elaborates when pressed by a journalist, 'and I don't say it was definitely a war crime.' I don't say that Beevor is definitely a shameless self-publicist.

A forthcoming conference in Caen next May will consider representations of war in the 20th and 21st Century. Papers may focus on graphic art, fiction, poetry, music, life-writing, journalism, film, video, etc., as well as 'commemorative supports' such as museums and monuments. Does Beevor's book constitute a commemorative support?

Forthcoming Conferences

A number of conferences later this year have relevance to anyone interested in war poetry. The first, titled 'The (In)visibility of War in Literature and the Media', takes place in Lisbon on 7-9 May. Then there is 'The First World War: Literature, Music, Memory' in Cambridge on 11-12 July; the programme has just been announced. Finally, a conference in Gdansk on 17-19 September will consider 'Representations of Military Violence and its Consequences in Literature, Film and Popular Culture'.