CFP: 2024 Newstead Abbey Byron Conference, ‘Provocative and Provoking: Fifty Shades of Byron’, 26-27th April (& other Bicentenary Celebrations)

For the line-up of Byron Society events in 2024, please see this expanding list of bicentenary celebrations.

Newstead Abbey

“But words are things, and a small drop of ink

Falling like dew, upon a thought produces

That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think.”

2024 marks the bicentenary of Lord Byron’s death. It is therefore fitting that the 2024 Newstead Abbey Byron Conference not only commemorates his death but also celebrates the life and works of both the multifaceted man and his dazzlingly diverse poetry. The theme for this year’s conference, Provocative and Provoking: Fifty Shades of Byron has been chosen to encourage papers exploring every aspect of Byron’s life, his poems, and his contemporary and current reception across the globe.

We could offer a lengthy list of potential topics, but it would be impossible to include them all.

So instead, we invite you to join us and discuss your Byrons – the poet and the playwright, the lover and the misanthrope, the pacifist and the warleader, the atheist and the spiritualist, the witty correspondent and the shrewd satirist. We also invite you to share your insights and observations regarding Byron’s poems, the profound fluctuations in his popularity over the last two hundred years, and the enduring significance of the poet and his poetry for so many cultures and communities today.

The conference will be held in Newstead Abbey, and delegates will have the opportunity to tour the house and gardens during the conference. In addition, to mark this special occasion, we will also be expanding the conference to include additional cultural events, both in the Abbey and at nearby locations connected with Lord Byron and his family. Details will be made available later in the year once the events are finalised.

The deadline for the Call for Papers is the 2nd of January. Please send abstracts of no more than 300 words, together with a short professional biography (of no more than 100 words), to Dr Emily Paterson Morgan (newsteadbyronconference@gmail.com).

The Byron Society will be providing a small number of bursaries for students and early career researchers. Details will be made available later in the year. If you would like to be considered for one of the bursaries, please include a short statement in your submission, outlining why you require the bursary.

Please see the details of the conference on the Byron Society website here.