Reimagining the Gothic 2017: Gothic Spaces: Keynote lecture

Sheffield Gothic is delighted to announce the title and abstract for our keynote lecture at the upcoming 'Reimagining the Gothic: Gothic Spaces,' taking place on 12th -13th May 2017. This year our keynote will be given by the wonderful Dale Townshend, Professor of Gothic Literature at Manchester Metropolitan University.

Towards a Poetics of Gothic Space: From Bachelard to Beckford and Beyond

This lecture seeks to assess the applicability of Gaston Bachelard’s influential phenomenology of architecture in The Poetics of Space (1958) to the reading of ‘Gothic space’, be that architectural space as it is presented in Gothic fiction, or in such ‘real-life’ Gothic spaces as Horace Walpole’s Strawberry Hill and William Beckford’s Fonthill Abbey. Although, in its concerns with attics, cellars and the dream-like return of the houses of the past to those who once inhabited them, Bachelard’s thesis appears to offer much to students of the literary and architectural Gothic, the usefulness of his account, the lecture argues, is considerably attenuated by his deliberate exclusion of salient Gothic examples.  Working systematically through a range of fictional and actual architectural spaces from the eighteenth century to the present day, this lecture attempts to construct an alternative poetics of Gothic space, one founded precisely on the Gothic impulses that Bachelard’s The Poetics of Space refuses to countenance. 

Dale Townshend is Professor of Gothic Literature in the Centre for Gothic Studies, Manchester Metropolitan University.  His most recent publications include The Gothic World (with Glennis Byron; Routledge, 2014) and Romantic Gothic: An Edinburgh Companion (with Angela Wright; Edinburgh University Press, 2016).  The recipient of an AHRC Leadership Fellowship (June 2015–December 2016), he is currently completing Writing Britain’s Ruins, 1700–1850 and Gothic Antiquity: History, Romance and the Architectural Imagination, 1760–1840, two major projects that explore the relationship between Gothic architecture and Gothic fiction, drama and poetry in the long eighteenth century.  

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Reimagining the Gothic 2017: Gothic Spaces is generously sponsered by the AHPGR Forum and the Alumni Foundation at the University of Sheffield.

Gothic Spaces: Artwork and Photography Competition

Reimagining the Gothic 2017: Gothic Spaces

Artwork and Photography Competition

Sheffield Gothic is pleased to announce that we will be running an Artwork and Photogrphy Competition in conjunction with Reimagining the Gothic 2017: Gothic Spaces. 

Requirements for submission:

• Submissions can be any form of art (painting, digital art, photography, sculpture, small creative pieces etc.) but must be submitted in a digital format that can be printed to postcard size. Images or photographs must therefore be of high quality and resolution. Creative prose will be accepted, but it must be submitted as an image and be presented creatively. Sculptures or similar artwork will be accepted, but it must be accompanied by images/photographs of the piece.
• The submission must include at least three images or photographs that encapsulate and represent the creative project. More images can be submitted, but if so please clearly indicate which images you would like to be considered for the competition.
• All submissions need to be available for the Reimagining the Gothic 2017: Gothic Spaces Symposium and Creative Showcase (12-13 May 2017) to be displayed at the Creative Showcase. The projects can also be featured on our project website: https://reimagininggothic.wordpress.com/.
• Submissions must address this year’s theme ‘Gothic Spaces’ (the CFP can be found here http://sheffieldgothicreadinggroup.blogspot.co.uk/p/reimagining-gothic-showcase-and_21.html)
• Submissions must be received by 6 March 2017 (the deadline for creative proposals) and include an abstract describing the project of no more than 200 words along with a short bio.

The winner will receive:

• A small money prize
•  A special postcard series printed by us and featured at the event
• The three winning images will be featured on our blog and the Reimagining website, with the option of including a small reflective piece by the artist
• One image will be used as the twitter banner for @TheReimagining
•  There will be the opportunity for the artist to give a short talk at the conference

All submissions will be displayed in the Creative Showcase at Gothic Spaces, and the winner will be formally announced at the event. There is no limit as to the amount of photos, images, or artwork that can be displayed in the Showcase, and these do not have to be submitted with the initial abstract (although you will need to send three images/photos to be considered for the competition, along with an abstract for your project). There may be prizes for runners up.

Please send your submissions or any enquiries to: reimagininggoth15@gmail.com or see our FAQ.

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Reimagining the Gothic 2017: Gothic Spaces is generously sponsered by the AHPGR Forum and the Alumni Foundation at the University of Sheffield.