Society Conference
The 21st International THOMAS HARDY
Conference & Festival
Dorchester 26th July – 3rd August 2014
Leading Hardy Scholars, Poetry Readings, Lectures, Seminars.
Receptions, Suppers, Tastings, New Writing from Wessex, Quiz.
Guided Walks, Coach Tours, Drama, Dance and Musical Performances.
Book Launches, Exhibitions, Antiquarian Book Fair, Awards.
The 2014 International Thomas Hardy Conference will mark the 140th anniversary of the publication of Far from the Madding Crowd – the novel which first established Thomas Hardy’s reputation. Like its predecessors it will be designed to appeal both to Hardy scholars and to the lay readers who attend in large numbers.
Distinguished scholars both in this country and abroad will give the academic side of the programme. Their subjects will include: Thomas Hardy and the law; Hardy and Tennyson; Hardy aestheticism and the visual arts; Hardy the poet and Hardy the letter-writer as well as a lively and provocative debate on the definitive edition of Hardy’s novels. A full programme of seminars, and a General Reader session, will complement the lectures and the extremely successful Postgraduate Symposium will showcase the best of up and coming scholarship in the field of Hardy studies.