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June 06, 2005
Weekend with Dracula
Last weekend we held a symposium on Dracula and related revenants at the University of Toronto, along with support from the Osborne Collection of Early Children's Books and the Merril Collection of Science Fiction, both of the Toronto Public Library. The conference was sold out long ago, and we didn't media bothering us, which is why I'm only mentioning it after the fact. There was an article in last week's Macleans (Undead and unseen) on the symposium, but it came out too late to cause us much trouble.
Our guest of honour was Chelsea Quinn Yarbro and writer participants included Nancy Baker, and Suzy McKee Charnas. There were scholars from Newfoundland, Quebec, BC, North Carolina, as well as local folk.
I've uploaded some pictures on Flickr, though I've not tagged them all or added names. And I've included the program below. The academic papers will be published in a forthcoming issue of the Journal of Dracula Studies
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
June 3 (Friday)
4:00-5:00 pm
Vampires for the Very Young: Stories and Pictures for Children
Exhibit of vampire-related material at Osborne Collection of
Early Children’s Books
Location: Lillian H Smith Library, 239 College St., 4th floor
7:00-9:00 pm
Vampire Novels as Potato Chips: You Can’t Write Just One!
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
Merril Collection of Science Fiction and Fantasy
Lillian H Smith Library, 239 College St., 3rd floor
June 4 Symposium (Saturday, 8:30 – 5:00)
Location: Bahen Centre for Information Technology (U of
Toronto), College at St George, Room 7180 (7th floor).
8:30-8:45: Registration/Sales
8:45-9:00: Opening remarks
9:00-10:30 Academic session 1: Dracula
Chair: Elizabeth Miller (Prof Emeritus, Memorial U of Newfoundland)
Dracula, Jack the Ripper and “A Thirst for Blood”
Robert Eighteen-Bisang (Transylvania Press, White Rock BC)
A Monstrous Mash, Or Would the Real Van Helsing Swing from a Rope?
James Craig Holte (Chair of Graduate Studies – English –
East Carolina U)
Untangling Late Victorian Anxieties: Hair Symbolism in Dracula
Nancy Rosenberg (U of Texas, Arlington)
10:30-11:00 – Break (book & merchandise sales & signings)
11:00-12:30 Academic session 2: Dracula’s spawn
Chair: Sally Braun-Jackson (Memorial U of Newfoundland)
Buffy vs Dracula’s Use of Count Famous
Tara Elliott (York University, Toronto)
Salad and Celery Stalks: Humour in Vampire Literature for Children
Greer Watson (York University, Toronto)
Triply Filiated: Lestat and the Three Fathers
Maureen LaPerrière (Université de Québec à Trois Rivières)
2:00-3:30 Panel Discussion 1: Today’s fictional vampire: tiger
or pussy-cat?
Chair: Peter Paolucci (York University, Toronto)
Panelists:
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro (novelist, Berkeley CA)
Nancy Baker (novelist, Toronto)
Anne Fraser (library technician, U of Toronto)
Norma Rowen (York University)
Robert Knowlton (independent scholar, Toronto)
Suzy McKee Charnas (novelist)
3:30-3:45 Break
3:45-5:15 Panel Discussion 2: Vampires among us?
Chair: James Craig Holte
Lead paper: Blood Lite: Adventures in Vampire Research
Rosemary Ellen Guiley (author and lecturer, Arnold MD)
Panelists:
Kat “Vampress” Crisp (student)
Elizabeth Miller
Jeanne Youngson (President, The Vampire Empire, NYC)
June 4 (Banquet)
Time: Saturday June 4, 6:30 for 7
Location: MangiaCake, 160 McCaul (at Elm).
Trivial pursuit
Awards for Creative Writing Contest
June 5 (Sunday)
Sightseeing: options to be presented at symposium –
dependent on weather.
ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
Anne-Marie Finn
Peter Halasz
Elizabeth Miller
Jason Nolan
Norma Rowen
SPECIAL THANKS
To the Friends of the Merril Collection for co-sponsoring
the visit of Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
To those who served as judges for the Creative Writing Contest:
Margaret Carter, Jim Holte, Norma Rowen (short stories)
Jason Nolan, Arun S. Blake, Anne-Marie Finn (poetry)
Official Program
Posted by jason at June 6, 2005 02:24 PM
Comments
Jason, Elizabeth & everyone from the TSD:
It was a fantastic weekend -- stimulating discussions & wonderful camaraderie. Thanks to everyone who worked to make this happen. Don't wait too long to do it again!
-- Rosemary
Posted by: Rosemary Ellen Guiley at June 8, 2005 07:34 AM
Jason -- thanks for alerting me to this. Hope you were pleased with the conference. I learned Norma Rowan was involved a bit before, can't remember where, but I was pleased to find you know each other.
The Maclean's piece is fun.
Maureen
Posted by: Maureen Harris at June 7, 2005 01:45 PM