Forthcoming Scott Events

This page lists forthcoming conferences, exhibitions, papers, lectures, talks, and other events relating to all aspects of Scott's life and work. The page editor would be glad to be informed of any omissions or errors, or to receive notification of other relevant events.

1. 'Romanticism and Secrets', One-Day Conference, Centre for Romantic Studies, University of Bristol, 2 May 2012

This one-day conference, organized by the Centre for Romantic Studies, University of Bristol, will feature one paper of particular Scott interest: ‘Walter Scott’s Secret Authorship, Or a Reversed Masquerade Played Across the Channel’ by Céline Sabiron (Oxford).

2. 'Sir Walter Scott and James Hogg: A City and Country Friendship', Talk by Dr Gillian Hughes, Edinburgh Sir Walter Scott Club, 3 May 2012

Dr Gillian Hughes, author of James Hogg: A Life (2007), main editor of The Collected Letters of James Hogg (2004-08), and one of the general editors of the Stirling/South Carolina Research Edition of the Collected Works of James Hogg, will examine parallels between the dual metropolitan and country lifestyles of Scott and Hogg. Further details from the Edinburgh Sir Walter Scott Club.

3. 47th International Congress on Medieval Studies, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan, May 10-13, 2012

The 47th International Congress on Medieval Studies, sponsored by the Medieval Institute of Western Michigan University, will feature one paper of particular Scott interest: 'From Ivanhoe to Ironclad: Changing Representations of Templars in Fiction and Film' by Teresa Rupp (Mount St. Mary’s University).

4. 'Crime Scotland: Then and Now', 2nd Conference of the Society for Scottish Studies in Europe, 31 May-3 June 2012, Georg-August University, Goettingen, Germany

The 2nd Conference of the Society for Scottish Studies in Europe, hosted by the English Department of Georg-August University, will feature one paper of particular Scott interest: 'Walter Scott's Walking Stick: The Case of Major Weir' by Silvia Mergenthal (Konstanz).

5. 'Crossing the Highland Line in the 19th Century: Cross-Currents in Scottish Writing', ASLS Annual Conference 2012, Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, Isle of Skye, 8-10 June 2012

The nineteenth century saw the romanticisation of the Highlander, the rise of tartanry, and the emergence of the modern Scottish tourist industry. It also witnessed the worst excesses of the Clearances and the beginnings of an exodus from the Highlands to the industrial cities and to the colonies. The Annual Conference of the Association for Scottish Literary Studies, hosted by Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, will examine the literary culture of Scotland – Highland and Lowland – during this transformational period, and will explore its interactions and intersections. It will feature one paper of particular Scott interest: 'What Can Walter Scott Offer Us Today?' by Christopher Whyte.

6. 'Besoms, Keelies, and Merry Men: Scott’s Contributions to Jamieson’s Dictionary', Talk by Dr Susan Rennie, Edinburgh Sir Walter Scott Club, 14 June 2012

Dr Susan Rennie is author of the forthcoming Jamieson's Dictionary of Scots: The Story of the First Historical Dictionary of the Scots Language. A former Senior Editor with Scottish Language Dictionaries, she edited the online Dictionary of the Scots Language (2001-04). She has also written several Scots-language books for children, including the award-winning Animal ABC: A Scots Alphabet (2002). Her talk will focus on fresh discoveries concerning Scott’s participation in John Jamieson’s classic Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language (1808). Further details from the Edinburgh Sir Walter Scott Club.

7. 'James Hogg and the Romantics', 2012 James Hogg Conference, University of Glasgow, 29-30 June 2012

The next Biennial James Hogg Conference will be jointly hosted by the James Hogg Society and the School of Critical Studies at the University of Glasgow. It will provide an opportunity to explore the nature of Hogg’s relationship with other Romantic writers and welcomes, in particular, papers relating to all aspects of Hogg’s relationship with Scottish Romanticism. Papers on topics related to the life and works of James Hogg and to Hogg's literary connections and influence are also welcomed. Reading time should not exceed 20 minutes. Proposals or abstracts should be sent by 29 February 2012 to Kirsteen.McCue@glasgow.ac.uk.

8. 'The Corporeal and the Spiritual in the Works of Walter Scott', Two-Day Conference, Sorbonne University, Paris, France, 5-6 July 2012

"Walter Scott often seems determined to erase the body from his texts, following the traditional Cartesian opposition between body and soul, the body being merely, to use Plato’s image, the tomb of the soul. Thus the novelist often chooses to focus only on his characters’ intellectual development, giving the reader so few details about their physical appearance that it is often quite difficult to picture them. Scott demonstrates his lack of interest in the material body even further – although, in this case he does transcend the dichotomy between body and soul – when he depicts the spectral body through images of disembodied beings.

In fact, it appears that what Scott cares little for is not the body itself but ordinary representations of it. He only finds it fascinating when it is either incomplete or immaterial – as in the case of ghosts for instance – or, on the contrary, when it is excessively present and materialized, in a Rabelais-like manner, when it is grotesque, misshapen, mutilated, dismembered or transgressive (a cross between male and female or between the human and the animal) or when it has turned into a corpse, embodying the ultimate victory of the matter over the spirit. This paradoxical attitude towards the body probably stems from the mixed feelings of attraction and repulsion which Scott himself experienced through his own infirmity and the repressive spirit of the XIXth century society as a whole. As the body sparks off sexual impulses and carnal desires, it is the inexpressible which must yet be expressed and written but in another form. Apparently absent from Scott’s texts, sexuality is nonetheless conveyed through transpositions, transfers from the animate to the inanimate as illustrated by the rape of the prison in The Heart of Mid-Lothian or the erotic treatment of the Scottish landscape.

In a figurative sense the body is also what holds several elements together, what brings together materially distinctive components to form a united and homogenous whole so the notions of domestic or political body and of the body of the nation can also be analyzed, as well as Scott’s textual body, discussing the ways in which uniqueness and homogeneity are achieved in spite of the various foreign bodies it borrows from."

Abstracts (300–500 words) should be sent to colloquescott2012@gmail.com before 30 December 2011. Acceptance will be notified by 2012.

9. 'A Colloquium on The Antiquary', presented by William Payne and Lee A. Simpson, Edinburgh Sir Walter Scott Club, Hospitalfield, Arbroath, 5 August 2012

This year’s Edinburgh Sir Walter Scot Club Colloquium, on The Antiquary, will be held at Hospitalfield House in Arbroath, East Angus. Regarded as one of the finest historic houses in Scotland, this is now also an arts centre, and is reputed to have provided a model for Scott’s depiction of Monkbarns in his novel. The discussion will be led by Lee A. Simpson, the Club's Honorary Treasurer and Events Convener, and William Payne, Director at Hospitalfield, and there will also be a tour of the house and buffet lunch. Further details from the Edinburgh Sir Walter Scott Club.

10. First World Congress of Scottish Literatures, University of Glasgow, 2-5 July 2014

The University of Glasgow will host the first World Congress of Scottish Literatures in the College of Arts, with the involvement of the Association for Scottish Literary Studies and other bodies. The conference will be organised under four main themes: Authors, Theorising Scottish literature, Gaelic, Mediaeval, Musical and Artistic Scotland, and Scotland in global culture and context. Together with panels on topics of Scott interest, there will be an individual author panel on Scott celebrating the bicentenary of the publication of Waverley. A Call for Papers will be issued in due course. Meanwhile please contact Rhona Brown if you will like to be placed on the congress mailing list.

Forthcoming Scott-Related Events