The
First
Biennial John Updike Society Conference
Alvernia
University, Reading, Pa., Oct. 1-3 2010
Celebrating
the
50th Anniversary of the publication of Rabbit,
Run
CALL FOR PAPERS
Updike in
Pennsylvania
John Updike was born in West Reading and lived in the family home at 117 Philadelphia Ave. in Shillington until the family moved to the farm in Plowville when he was 13—a farm he would write about in “Pigeon Feathers” and Of the Farm. The school he attended, and at which his father taught, would turn up in The Centaur. During his youth, Updike spent a lot of time at the Reading Public Library, with its “cosmically mysterious” balconies, and the Reading Museum, with its Egyptian mummy and other objects that left an indelible impression on the young Updike. And as a young man he worked several summers at the Reading Eagle as a copy boy.
Books which he set in Pennsylvania or which prominently feature Pennsylvania include The Poorhouse Fair (1959), The Same Door (1959), Rabbit, Run (1960), Pigeon Feathers (1962), The Centaur (1963), Of the Farm (1965), Rabbit, Redux (1971), Rabbit Is Rich (1981), Rabbit at Rest (1990), and Licks of Love (2000), which includes the novella Rabbit Remembered. The novels which earned him major awards were all written about Pennsylvania.
In Updike’s fictional world, Reading became Brewer and Shillington turned up as Olinger. John Updike Society members who attend this historic first conference will be able to tour the sites that were important to Updike, and see places mentioned in Rabbit, Run and other Pennsylvania fictions.
The 50th
anniversary of the publication of Rabbit,
Run
Rabbit, Run remains one of John Updike’s best-known and best-loved novels, with Harry “Rabbit” Angstrom emerging as Updike’s most famous creation, a literary character as iconic as Huckleberry Finn and Jay Gatsby. In the four Rabbit novels, Updike did something unprecedented in American literature: he revisited a character roughly every ten years over the lifetime of the character, and in the process he chronicled American life in the 20th century in greater detail and scope than any of his peers. The power of the Rabbit novels was all but confirmed by the Pulitzer Prizes that Updike won for Rabbit Is Rich and Rabbit at Rest, making him one of only three American writers ever to win the award twice for fiction.
PROPOSALS (Deadline: March 15, 2010)
We welcome proposals on all aspects of Updike’s artistic experience, but we are particularly interested in papers that focus on Rabbit, Run and/or the other Rabbit novels/novella, as well as Updike’s fiction, poetry, and non-fiction having to do with Pennsylvania.
One or two-page proposals/abstracts are due by March 15. They should be emailed to Program Director Jack De Bellis: bjd1@lehigh.edu. Successful proposals will be acknowledged by March 31; papers presented will be considered for publication by The John Updike Review.
Moderators are also needed, and members wishing to serve in this capacity should contact Jack De Bellis to express their willingness.
To present a paper or moderate at The First Biennial John Updike Society Conference, one must be a member and also be registered for the conference. Membership dues for the 2010 calendar year are $25/regular members, $20/retirees and students. Information on the cost of conference registration will be posted as it becomes available.
To join, see the Society website: http://blogs.iwu.edu/johnupdikesociety
For conference information and updates, see the Society or Conference website:
http://www.alvernia.edu/johnupdike/johnupdike.html