Approximately 150 professors and graduate students from across the nation with expertise in Southern writing and related topics will gather in Nashville March 29-31 for the 鈥檚 biannual conference.
This year鈥檚 theme is anniversaries, according to , the Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor of English and president of the professional support organization. 鈥淢any people have looked for civic and commemorative opportunities in connection with the sesquicentennial anniversary of the Civil War,鈥� Kreyling said. 鈥淲e decided to extend that to other anniversaries related to Southern literature, such as William Faulkner鈥檚 death 50 years ago.鈥�
The first two days of the conference will take place at the , with topics that include Southern music, The Wind Done Gone (authored by Vanderbilt Writer-in-Residence ), Southern food in Southern literature and Tennessee poets.
The March 31 sessions will take place at Vanderbilt鈥檚 Buttrick Hall, with panels on new Southern women, country music around the country and the legacies of Robert Penn Warren.
鈥淭he three-day conference will include a large panel on The Help, with a discussion on
whether the story is a fair representation of the black civil rights experience,鈥� Kreyling said. 鈥淲e will also talk about Burt Reynolds as the 鈥榣ast Southern man,鈥� with reference to his macho image in the film Deliverance and his slightly neurotic persona in the Smokey and the Bandit 尘辞惫颈别蝉.鈥�
Among the graduate students presenting is Destiny Birdsong of Vanderbilt, who has written on the work of contemporary Southern poet Natasha Trethewey. In addition, several Vanderbilt alumni who earned their doctorates in English are returning for the conference.
Capping off the meeting will be the screening of Robert Altman鈥檚 1975 film Nashville on Saturday evening at the Sarratt Cinema. Kreyling has invited , a Vanderbilt sociologist who specializes in urban sociology and related cultural issues, to join him for opening commentary. The screening, which is part of the International Lens film series, is free and open to the public.
The , and are providing support for the conference. For more information, contact Michael Kreyling at michael.p.kreyling@vanderbilt.edu.