Oppen Conference CFP

This just in, and of interest:

CFP: 'George Oppen: A Centenary Conference', conference, Fall/Autumn 2008,
Edinburgh University.

2008 marks the centenary of the birth of the American poet George Oppen. From his early "objectivist" volume Discrete Series (1934) to the spare and enigmatic meditations of Primitive (1978), Oppen's work consistently interrogated the relationship between poetry and sincerity and the ground of political and ethical value. This conference will include major scholars from both sides of the Atlantic in order to celebrate Oppen's centenary and to consider key aspects of his artistic achievement and legacy. An edited volume of specially commissioned essays arising out of papers given at the conference is also planned.

Possible topics for consideration include: Objectivism and the literary object; style and sincerity; literary and philsophical modernism; the cold war; the idea of America; poetry and the polis.

Abstracts of no more than 500 words should be sent to Lee.Spinks @ ed . ac. uk. (take out the spaces, natch--ES). The deadline for submissions is November 1, 2007.