ANZSA 2016: Shakespeare at the Edges
University of Waikato, Hamilton, NZ
17-19 Nov. 2016
The Australia and New Zealand Shakespeare Association (ANZSA) calls for papers for its biennial conference Shakespeare at the Edges. We meet at the edge of Shakespeare’s World―12,000 miles from Shakespeare’s Globe. The location of the conference is a chance in the quadricentennial year to think about “edges” in Shakespeare from a wide range of perspectives. Papers might consider (but not feel restricted to) the following:
• Does it mean anything to read/perform Shakespeare at the edges? Does location continue to make a difference?
• Does 2016 represent an edge in Shakespeare Studies? Where have we come to over four hundred years and where should we go to next? Are some lines of inquiry leased out? Are others opening up in, say, performance studies, digital/media approaches, new archival studies?
• How does thinking about the edges (paratexts) of the play text or the stage enrich understanding of early modern theatricality?
• What happens if we place Shakespeare at the edge and place other writers at the centre? Should we reshape our sense of the Early Modern?
• Is Shakespeare edgy? Does he explore “edges” as some have claimed? Where and how is he edgy, and where does he play it safe?
The Conference will feature plenary and panel sessions, live performance and film screenings. Conference highlights include keynote addresses by Lisa Hopkins (Shakespeare on the Edge, 2005, and Renaissance Drama on the Edge, 2014); and Margaret Jane Kidnie (Shakespeare and the Problem of Adaptation, 2009, and Shakespeare and Textual Studies, ed. with Sonia Massai, 2015); and a special performance for delegates of Regan Taylor’s commedia-inspired Maori adaptation: Solothello. Proposals for panels, papers, and interactive workshops are all welcome.
Inquiries and proposals should be sent to: anzsa2016@waikato.ac.nz by July 1, 2016.
Proposals of 200 words should include a 50-word bio noting institutional affiliations (if any). Research Higher Degree students will be invited to submit their paper in advance for the Lloyd Davis Memorial Prize for best postgraduate paper. The best paper will receive an award and scholarly mentoring from a senior member of ANZSA. Details for the prize, and notification of a professional seminar for grad/post grad researchers on the afternoon of November 16, will be circulated later.
Travel to Hamilton (for ANZSA and BSANZ), November 2016.
The University of Waikato is on the fringes of Hamilton, New Zealand. It is about 90 minutes south of Auckland airport, and on the main state highway, called, imaginatively, State Highway 1. The main ways to get to Hamilton will be
- Intercity Buses runs an express service several times a day from the Auckland International and Domestic Terminal. This goes directly to central Hamilton. $20.00 NZ each way.http://www.intercity.co.nz/
- Several shuttles run regularly from Auckland Airport to Hamilton. At the University we often use Roadcat:http://www.roadcat.co.nz/. The shuttles regularly pick up and drop off at the University.
- You can hire cars from the main rental agencies and pick up from Auckland airport. This might suit a group travelling together, or those planning to do some touring. The highways are very well maintained!
- Hamilton does have an airport and there are connections to Auckland several times a day. Usually these are inconveniently timed and quite expensive. But it can be done. The airport is about 20 minutes drive from the centre of Hamilton.
Mark Houlahan, English Programme, University of Waikato
ANZSA President and Conference Convenor: maph@waikato.ac.nz