North and South: The Latitude of Letters

Between 26 and 28 June the Department of English and Related Literature will host an academic conference exploring the theme of this year's Festival of Ideas: North and South

Speakers:

Please click on a participant's name to download an audio file of their presentation.

• Niall Carson
• Katharine Cockin
• Peter Davidson and Andrew Biswell in conversation
• Dominic Davies
• Corinne Fowler
• Maggie Gee (lecture (PDF , 524kb), Q&A, interview conducted by Ruby Cooper, Sam Hickford, Helen Hobin, Olympia Shipley and Gareth Tan)
• Graham Huggan
• Eammon Hughes
• Margaret Kelleher
• Madhu Krishnan
• Caroline Magennis
• John Sears
• Martin Wainwright

The striking image of a world in conflict often pits east against west in a trend that both harkens back to the Cold War and anticipates potential turmoil arising from Asia’s rising economic influence. Yet, another conflict exists which affects the world to an equivalent extent, but which seems to avoid a similar degree of scrutiny; the troubled relationship between North and South. Lying closer to home, this dichotomy seems intrinsic to popular conceptualizations of the United Kingdom, but also finds parallels across the globe, with Norths and Souths often finding themselves separated by economic, political and cultural issues.

The North South conference seeks to discuss the impact these remarkable relationships have had on literature and culture by examining the connections between geography and representation, with the ultimate goal of achieving a clearer understanding of the factors that converge to create dichotomies of this scale and subtlety, as well as their repercussions on culture and society.

Noted academics and acclaimed luminaries of the literary world will be converging on the University of York, with speakers like Seamus Heaney, Ciaran Carson and Lucy Caldwell taking the stage.