Registration is now open for “Whatever Else”: An Irving Layton Symposium, May 3-5, 2013.
You are cordially invited to attend “Whatever Else”: An Irving Layton Symposium, the 41st instalment of the annual Canadian Literature Symposium hosted by the Department of English at the University of Ottawa. This will be 3-day gathering featuring paper presentations by 17 literary critics; a film screening and director’s talk by Donald Winkler (Poet: Irving Layton Observed, NFB 1986; Red Carpet for the Sun, Diversus 2002); a round-table discussion of Layton’s life and legacy with Layton biographer Elspeth Cameron, anthologist, editor and poet Seymour Mayne, and poet-critic George Elliott Clarke; a keynote address by Canada’s premier Layton scholar, Brian Trehearne; and an evening of literary readings and performances inspired by the Layton Reloaded poetry project.
Though he was once a towering figure both nationally and internationally, scholarly interest in Layton has dwindled since the mid-1980s. The goal of the symposium is to demonstrate the continuing relevance of Layton’s contribution to Canadian literature and society by way of an examination of his work from a variety of novel perspectives.
The registration cost is $90 for academics and full-time instructors ($45 for the under-employed and retirees). There is no charge for graduate or undergraduate students, but they must register in advance of the symposium. Registration forms can be downloaded from the Canadian Symposium website at www.canlit-symposium.ca
The program is here.