In recent years Edward Lear has gained in prominence as a focus for study among Victorianists and scholars of poetry. Edward Lear and the Play of Poetry, ed. by James Williams and Matthew Bevis (OUP, 2016), The Natural History of Edward Lear by Robert McCracken Peck (David Godine/ACC, 2016), and Mr Lear: A Life of Art and Nonsense by Jenny Uglow (Faber, 2017) are among the most obvious recent signs of a reconsideration of Lear's writing among scholars in literature and in the visual arts.

This one-day seminar gives emerging scholars an opportunity to present and discuss new work on Edward Lear.

Keynote speaker: Jenny Uglow

Delegates may be asked to make a contribution of up to £5 on the day to cover refreshments and lunch.

Enquiries to james.williams@york.ac.uk

Schedule

from 9.0 Arrival

9.30-11.0 PANEL 1: CLASSIFICATIONS

Marc Ricard (University of Exeter) Nonsense Botany: Lear’s Queer Botany and the Disruption of the Natural
Emily Tock (National University of Ireland, Galway) Odd Taxonomies: Taxonomy, Nomenclature, and Lear's Nonsense Botany
Benjamin Westwood (University of Oxford) Lear’s Lines

11.0-11.30 Coffee

11.30-1.0 PANEL 2: INFLUENCES

Eliza Haughton-Shaw (University of Cambridge) Lear’s Dickens
Ekaterina Shatalova (University of Oxford) Edward Lear and Mervyn Peake: ‘the divine lunacy we call nonsense.’
Alex Alonso (University of York) Edward Lear, Paul Muldoon: Animals and Elsewheres

1.0-2.0 Lunch

2.0-3.30 PANEL 3: DEPARTURES

Madeline Boden (University of York) Edward Lear in Constantinople, or ‘The Moslem Picturesque’
Jasmine Jagger (University of Oxford) Lear’s Tears
Noreen Masud (University of Oxford) Bad Lemons: Lear’s Leftovers

3.30-4.0 Coffee

4.0-5.30 KEYNOTE

Jenny Uglow (independent scholar) Chicken and Egg: Text and Picture, Picture and Text