English Dept. Hosting International Modernist Conference, Public Poetry Reading

Nearly 1,000 modernist scholars from around the world will visit Pittsburgh as the Department of English co-hosts the 16th Modernist Studies Association Conference with the University of Pittsburgh.

“The invitation to serve as primary host for the conference recognizes the vitality of scholarship within the English department and heightens Duquesne University’s international and national visibility, especially among literary and cultural studies scholars,” said English Professor Dr. Linda Kinnahan, the Hillman Endowed Chair who is chair of the conference host committee. “The energetic involvement by students, faculty and alumni, alongside our collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh as a contributing sponsor, enriches opportunities for important intellectual and scholarly exchanges within and beyond the Duquesne community.”

This year’s conference, Confluence and Division, focuses primarily on modernist literature (that written between 1880 and 1945) but brings together scholars from disciplines such as film studies, history, art history and even economics who will share their ideas and current work on modernist studies.

The conference will feature three plenary sessions—including a panel discussion and keynote speeches from Rachel Blau DuPlessis, professor emerita at Temple University, and Meta DuEwa Jones, associate professor at Howard University—and two evenings of poetry readings that are open to the public.

The detailed schedule of public readings is as follows:

Confluences and Divisions in Experimental British Poetry
Friday, Nov. 7, 3:15 to 5:15 p.m., William Penn Ballroom, Omni William Penn
Readings by John Wilkinson and David Marriott

Friday night poetry reading
Friday, Nov. 7, 9 to 11:00 p.m., Allegheny Room, Omni William Penn
Readings by Tyrone Williams, Lesley Wheeler, Dan Tobin, Elizabeth Savage, Lisa Samuels, Aldon Nielsen, Julia Lisella, Meta DuEwa Jones, Jeanne Heuving, Cynthia Hogue, Elisabeth Frost and Rachel Blau DuPlessis

Poetry Reading by Terrance Hayes and Dawn Lundy Martin
Saturday, Nov. 8, 3:30 to 4:30 p.m., Monongahela Room, Omni William Penn

Caroline Bergvall: Reading and Performance of ‘Drift’ and Other Pieces
Saturday, Nov. 8, 8 to 9 p.m., Monongahela Room, Omni William Penn

For more information on the poetry reading series, please contact 412.482.7275. For the full conference agenda, including speaker bios, please visit duq.edu/msa2014.