Event Archive
This is an archive of past events within the Department of English Studies. Please see our current events for forthcoming activities.
Some of our public events are recorded and are available as podcasts via our Research English At Durham blog.
When the Lamps Went Out: HG Wells and His World on the Eve of War
Registration is now open for the annual H. G. Wells Society Conference, which will take place at Palace Green Library, Durham University on 27th September 2014. It will feature plenary lectures by Professor Matthew Pateman (Sheffield Hallam University) and Megan Shepherd (author of The Madman’s Daughter), and the panels and papers below. A registration form can be downloaded here.
This year will see the anniversary of the outbreak of what H. G. Wells optimistically hoped would be ‘The War that Will End War’. When the Lamps Went Out is a conference that seeks to take a snapshot of the literary, political and social landscape at the end of the ‘long nineteenth century’ and the dawn of the First World War.
26 September
27 September
Venue and accommodation
The conference will be held at Palace Green Library:https://www.dur.ac.uk/palace.green/.
To find accommodation in the Durham area the first website below provides a comprehensive list. Unless you have your own transport we recommend staying in Durham City, or if you are happy with a short train ride of 15 minutes or so and you would like the bright lights, Newcastle city centre. We cannot vouch for all of the accommodation listed here, and although some establishments give you the option of booking through the sites below, some places will prefer it if you book with them directly, so probably wisest to contact them to confirm availability.
This is Durham
Durham Visitor Contact Centre
Newcastle Tourist Information
Search for Durham hotels
Search for Durham bed and breakfast
When the Lamps Went Out is a collaboration between Durham University Centre for Nineteenth-Century Studies, the H. G. Wells Society and the Edwardian Culture Network. Attendance fee is: H G Wells Society members: unwaged £20, waged £30; non-Members: unwaged £25, waged £35. The Wells Society can be joined at:
http://www.hgwellsusa.50megs.com/.
This conference also marks the launch of the exhibition Books for Boys: Heroism, Empire and Adventure at the Dawn of the First World War. Books for Boys tells the story of Britain and Germany in the years leading up to the Great War through showing what the public enjoyed reading. The exhibition will also display late-Victorian and Edwardian maps, toys, uniforms, photographs, pictures, medals, literary memorabilia and other artefacts and ephemera. Conference delegates will be invited to a private view of the exhibition on the evening preceding the conference.
Contact s.j.james@durham.ac.uk for more information about this event.
READ Blog
Research in English At Durham (READ) blog showcasing the the literary research emerging from the Department of English Studies
Events
We host a large number of conferences, lectures and seminars each year, many of them open to the public. Find out more on our Events page.
Podcasts
Many of our public lectures, seminars and conferences are recorded, and can be listened to as podcasts.
Next Event
- 20th January 2021
- Sensory Experiments in Nineteenth-Century Literature
- Online (Zoom)
- Dr Erica Fretwell (University of Albany) and Dr Shannon Draucker (Siena College)