The Arnold Bennett Society

The organisers are seeking proposals for papers marking the Centenary of Bennett's The Old Wives' Tale.

We would welcome papers looking at Bennett's novel in the context of debate about such issues as the literary contribution to historical understanding, the aesthetic of an historical moment, marriage as the linkage between public and private, English society in transition, the domestic intrusion of Imperial ideology, the rise of display and advertising, the differences between historical and novelistic representation, realism and symbolism.

We also anticipate proposals placing Bennett's novel in relation to its Victorian predecessors such as Cranford and Middlemarch, to its contemporaries such as Nostromo and The History of Mr. Polly, and to later attempts to capture the essence of societies in transition such as A Glastonbury Romance and Between the Acts.

Peter Preston's Keynote Address will consider "1908: The Old Wives' Tale and its Literary Context". Tim Brearley will première excerpts from his Bennett documentary, and talk about the making of the film.

Please send 200 word abstracts for 20-minute papers by mid-January 2008 to John Shapcott, ab.conference@btinternet.com. General enquiries may also be made at this address.

The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery houses an extensive archive of Arnold Bennett material, including many of his original watercolours and a number of original manuscripts, together with a small permanent display. The Forum Theatre is fully equipped for audio-visual presentations.