Birkbeck to host Siri Hustvedt in first international conference on her work
Event to explore US author's contribution to literature
Award winning American author Siri Hustvedt will be the special guest at an international conference on her writing, coordinated by and hosted at Birkbeck, University of London, on 23 October.
Ms Hustvedt is expected to deliver a reading from a new work at a special public evening event to close the first ever academic conference on her contribution to literature.
The reading will take place at Woburn House at 20 Tavistock Square, London, from 7-9.30pm on 23 October.
Sponsored by Birkbeck’s School of Arts and Centre for Contemporary Literature, the conference, Living, Thinking, Looking: An International Conference on the Writing of Siri Hustvedt, will also showcase a range of papers from speakers and panellists representing UK, US and European institutions.
Keynote speakers at the one-day conference include the editors of a forthcoming book of essays on Siri Hustvedt, titled Zones of Focused Ambiguity in Siri Hustvedt’s Work. The editors are Professor Dr Hubert Zapf, University of Augsburg, Christine Marks, LaGuardia Community College (New York) and Dr Johanna Hartmann, University of Augsburg.
The conference has been convened by Birkbeck doctoral student Alex Williamson, whose PhD focuses on the intertextual relationship of Siri Hustvedt’s novels with those of her husband, Paul Auster.
Alex said: “Siri Hustvedt is one of the most important writers and public intellectuals we have. Her interdisciplinary approach to fiction and her essays on visual art, psychology, philosophy and the life sciences have made a vital contribution not only to contemporary literature and criticism, but also to our understanding of what makes us human. We are truly delighted that she has agreed to join us for this conference on her work, and are very excited about what will no doubt be a thought-provoking evening reading.”
Siri Hustvedt said: “Every writer hopes for readers. The fact that I have some readers who have also taken the time to write about my books makes me happy, grateful, and just a little bit nervous. The first two feelings, however, outweigh the third, and I am truly looking forward to visiting Birkbeck in October.”
Places are now available for both the conference and the evening reading. Click here for more information.
Find out more
About the conference
- Living, Thinking, Looking – an International Conference on the Writing of Siri Hustvedt will take place in the Keynes Library at Birkbeck, University of London’s School of Arts on 23 October (9.30am-6.30pm).
- An Evening with Siri Hustvedt will take place at Woburn House Conference Centre, 20 Tavistock Square, Kings Cross, London WC1H 9HQ on 23 October (7-9,30pm). The conference is free to attend. Tickets cost £10 per person for the reading. Full details can be found at: http://hustvedtconference.wordpress.com. Contact hustvedtconference@gmail.com.
About Siri Hustvedt
- Siri Hustvedt's first novel, The Blindfold, was published in 1993. Her other novels are The Enchantment of Lily Dahl, What I Loved, The Sorrows of an American, The Summer Without Men and The Blazing World, which was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2014. She is also the author of the poetry collection Reading To You, and four collections of essays: Yonder, Mysteries of the Rectangle: Essays on Painting, A Plea for Eros and Living, Thinking, Looking, as well as the memoir The Shaking Woman: A History of My Nerves.
- Born in Minnesota, Siri Hustvedt now lives in Brooklyn, New York. She has a PhD in English from Columbia University and in 2012 was awarded the International Gabarron Prize for Thought and Humanities. www.sirihustvedt.net