Awards
FRANK PINION AWARD
Applications are invited for this award which commemorates Dr. Frank Pinion's contribution to Thomas Hardy studies. His many publications on Hardy include:
'A Thomas Hardy Companion'; 'Thomas Hardy: his life and friends'; 'Hardy the writer: surveys and assessments'; 'A commentary on the poems of Thomas Hardy'; 'Thomas Hardy: art and thought'; 'A Thomas Hardy Dictionary' and 'One rare fair woman (letters to Florence Henniker, edited jointly with Evelyn Hardy). Dr Pinion also edited The Thomas Hardy Society Review, which later became the Thomas Hardy Journal. He was a Vice-President of the Society.
Dr. Pinion's entire career was with young people, his own interest in Thomas Hardy began when a student: the Award was founded by his students. For these reasons, it was decided to devote the Award to young people wishing to further their Thomas Hardy studies. It provides financial help to attend the Thomas Hardy Conference, enabling the winner to hear lectures by Hardy scholars and visit many Hardy locations. The closing date is 31 March 2010.
Award Details
The Award is linked to the Thomas Hardy Conference and is made every two years.
The Award is £250 towards attendance at the Conference.
Applications are not limited to Society members.
Applicants must be under the age of 35 by 1 July 2010.
Applications must be in writing and be based on reasons for wishing to attend the Conference. These may relate to an emerging but strong interest in Thomas Hardy or a continuation of research on Hardy. A short CV giving relevant details concerning your date of birth and interest in Thomas Hardy should be included.
Applications will be judged by a panel drawn from members of the Sheffield Branch of the Thomas Hardy Society. Their decision is final.
The winner will be notified by mid-May and the Award presented during the Conference.
Applications, marked clearly The Frank Pinion Award, must be submitted by 31 March 2010 to the Society at:
The Thomas Hardy Society
c/o Dorset County Museum
High West Street
Dorchester
Dorset
DT1 1XA
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THE NINETEENTH INTERNATIONAL THOMAS HARDY CONFERENCE AND FESTIVAL
Dorchester, UK
24th July – 1st August 2010
CALL FOR PAPERS
The 2010 International Thomas Hardy Conference marks the 170th anniversary of the birth of Thomas Hardy. Like its predecessors it will be designed to appeal both to Hardy scholars and to the lay readers who attend in large numbers. The academic sessions will be supplemented by a wide variety of excursions and entertainments relating to the local context which Hardy’s work celebrated, and from which it emerged.
Our invited speakers include Professor Penny Boumelha, Professor Tim Armstrong, Dr Sophie Gilmartin, Claire Tomalin, Professor Barrie Bullen, Professor Phil Davis, Professor William Greenslade and there will be poetry readings from Sir Andrew Motion, Brian Patten and Christopher Reid. We are also soliciting papers from Hardy scholars across the world. A series of thirty-minute talks will be given in chaired parallel sessions. Proposals for such lectures, which may concern any aspect of Hardy’s work, should take the form of an abstract not exceeding 250 words in length.
They should be addressed to:
‘Call for Papers’ –
( The Thomas Hardy Society)
Dr. Jane Thomas, Department of English
University of Hull, East Yorkshire HU6 7RX
Email: j.e.thomas@hull.ac.uk
POSTGRADUATE SYMPOSIUM
We are also seeking papers from postgraduates and new scholars of Hardy for a postgraduate symposium, which will form part of the conference. Proposals of 300 words max. for papers of 20 minutes duration should be submitted before 31 January 2010 to the postgraduate convenor:
Prof Roger Ebbatson: ebbatson@tiscali.co.uk or Dr Angelique Richardson: A.Richardson@exeter.ac.uk
A small bursary will be offered to successful applicants and conference fees will be waived. Reduced rates are offered to postgraduates not invited to speak. A selection of the papers presented at the conference will be published in the peer-reviewed Thomas Hardy Journal.
All submissions will be read and adjudicated by an academic panel. The closing date is 31st January 2010.
The best of the papers given at the Conference will be eligible for publication in the book-length Thomas Hardy Journal appearing in Autumn 2010.
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BURSAY FOR BIENNIAL CONFERENCE July/August 2010
As an Educational Charity the Thomas Hardy Society promotes knowledge and appreciation of the works of Thomas Hardy both nationally and internationally; the Society encourages study at school and university level and provides members of the Society with the opportunities for fellowship.
To this end, the biennial conferences are an important element, offering a wide-ranging programme of lectures and seminars, dramatic interpretations, musical events and poetry readings.
The Society is keen to welcome members from as many parts of the world as possible. In past years we have been privileged to have delegates from as many as seventeen different countries. It is sometimes the case, however, that people who are involved in Hardy studies, either as students or teachers, are unable to attend because of the cost involved. The Society has limited funds available that might enable us to make a contribution towards costs in a few cases.
Those who find themselves in this situation are invited to write stating their circumstances, the nature of their interest in Hardy, and their needs in terms of being able to attend this year’s conference in Dorchester (24 July – 1 August 2010) including specific details of travel expenses etc. Letters for consideration should arrive at the Hardy Society’s office by 31st December 2009 addressed to the Secretary.
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THOMAS HARDY SOCIETY POETRY COMPETITION
In memory of James Gibson
In 2008 The Thomas Hardy Society, in association with Agenda magazine, sponsored a poetry competition to commemorate the late James Gibson, who edited Hardy's Complete Poems, and was a founder member as well as a former Chairman of the Society.
Prizes were awarded for the best poems, of forty lines or fewer, previously unpublished, and showing some affinity with the work of Thomas Hardy, whether in terms of subject matter, theme or technique.
There was a first prize of £3000, a second prize of £1000, a third prize of £500 and ten runners-up awards of £50 - the last particularly intended to encourage new writers.
There was a reception for prizewinners in Dorchester on Saturday, July 26th 2008 to mark the start of the Thomas Hardy Conference and Festival. It was the occasion for public announcement of the results.
The adjudicator was the poet, critic and translator Bernard O' Donoghue.
His poetry collections include Poaching Rights (1987), The Weakness (1991), Gunpowder (1995) (winner of the Whitbread Poetry Award), Here nor There (1999) and Outliving (2003). In 2006 he published a translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. He teaches Medieval English at the University of Oxford, where he is a Fellow of Wadham College. He is also the author of The Courtly Love Tradition (1982) and Seamus Heaney and the Language of Poetry (1995).
A volume of all the winning poems is available from the Thomas Hardy Society...