The 47th Wordsworth Summer Conference

Monday 6 August to Thursday 16 August at Rydal Hall, Cumbria

Details of the 48th Conference,  5-15 August 2019, will be posted early in 2019 

Keynote Lectures, 2018

Part 1

Mina Gorji   |  Theresa M Kelley  |  Stacey McDowell   |  Seamus Perry

Adam Potkay  | Michael Rossington  | Charles Rzepka  

Part 2

Gillian Beer  |  Madeleine Callaghan  |  Philip Connell  | David Duff  

Jessica Fay  |  Stacey McDowell  |  Julian North  |  Kimiyo Ogawa

   Key Features

• The conference is in two parts, of five nights each, with a changeover day
• 7 fell-walks, 6 excursions, Local Walks
• 13 keynote lectures and 30-34 papers
• Either 4 or 9 full days in Rydal 
• Excursions to places of Wordsworthian connections or general cultural interest
• Up to seventy miles of fell walking

The 2018 Wordsworth Summer Conference at elegant Rydal Hall will be the 47th since Richard Wordsworth’s inaugural conference gathering in 1970. This year we continue the format pioneered by Richard, mingling lectures, papers and lively academic debate with energetic fell walking, picturesque rambles, and excursions to places of Wordsworthian and Romantic interest. There will be an opportunity to explore the treasures of the Wordsworth Trust’s collections with the curator Jeff Cowton, and an evening visit to Wordsworth's Rydal Mount and  garden with a glass of wine. In 2018 our excursions are likely to include the picturesque coastal village St Bees, Ravenglass, and Muncaster Castle. High points for energetic fell walkers are likely to include Crinkle Crags, Sheffield Pike, Great End, and Glaramara by the spectacular waterfall at Taylor Ghyll Force. 

Format and Costs

The conference is in two parts of 4 full days each, with a changeover day on Saturday 11 August. Because the conference has a unique culture of conversation and participation, those wishing to present a paper must register for at least one full part, and many register for the whole event. The resident registration fee, which includes all excursions, offers exceptional value at £250 for ten days (£175 for five days).

Full Board at the Rydal Hall Diocesan Conference Centre is available at prices ranging from £610 to £910 (for ten nights), and at Rydal Hall Youth Centre from £450. Non-resident rates are £395 for one part, £790 throughout, including refreshments, lunch, dinner and excursions. There is also a day rate of £100 per day.

Proposals

We invite proposals for twenty-minute papers on all aspects of William Wordsworth, his contemporaries and the Romantic period. 250-word proposals for papers of no more than 2750 words, together with a brief autobiographical paragraph, unformatted, should occupy no more than 2 sides of A4.  Please do include your name, institution and e-mail address on the abstract. Please do not send it as a PDF, as proposals will be copied into a composite file. Proposals should be e-mailed by 15 April 2018 to: proposal.wsc@gmail.com

Contact

All other enquiries should also be e-mailed to the Conference Administrator at the address below.

Click on the "Bursaries" button for details of Bursaries to be awarded in 2018

Conference Director: Nicholas Roe
Conference Administrator: Irm Hollenbach

E-mail: wordsworthsummerconference@gmail.com

Please ensure that you have read our Terms and Conditions

Wordsworth Summer Conference Blog: www.wcf-summer.blogspot.co.uk