David Jones: Culture and Artifice: Conference in Washington DC March 30-31, 2012

Brad Haas sent out this note on 1 November 2011

The birthday of David Jones seems an appropriate time to announce an exhibition and a conference devoted to his work taking place at Washington Adventist University on March 30-31, 2012.
The conference, sponsored by the WAU Honors Program, is titled “David Jones: Culture & Artifice,” seeks to explore DJ’s cultural theory, and how he uses artifice to confront the issues of modern culture. This should allow for a wide range of paper topics. A “Call For Papers” sheet is attached (please feel free to distribute this to those who would find it of interest).
In addition to the conference, there will be an exhibition of DJ’s major book illustrations, by chance coinciding with an exhibition of similar works at the National Library of Wales. The WAU exhibition will feature over fifty items, with many lifetime proofs of engravings, including complete illustrations from:
* A Child’s Rosary Book (from the Rosary Calendar, 1931)
* The Book of Jonah
* The Chester Play of the Deluge
* The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
There will also be some early rarities and stand-alone prints. In all roughly one quarter of DJ’s entire output of engravings will be on display.
It is hoped that this event will bring together a number of DJ experts to present an array of interesting papers, and that this will bring DJ to the attention of a wider audience. Students, faculty, and community members will be attending.
As a bonus, all conference members are invited to stay through Saturday to attend the annual Keough Lectures, presented by the WAU Theology Department. This year Professor Leland Ryken from the English Department at Wheaton College has been invited to speak on the Bible as Literature. Professor Ryken has an impressive list of over thirty publications, and in addition to his expertise on the Bible, he is also a recognized C.S. Lewis scholar. We intend to ask Professor Ryken to join us for at least part of the DJ conference, and it seems that there could be some interesting crossover between the two events.
Spring is an excellent time of year to visit the Washington, D.C. area. The WAU campus is conveniently located for relatively easy access to the city and its cultural treasures.
On behalf of Kathy Staudt and myself, I hope that many of you are able to attend this event, and we look forward to reading your proposals.

Best wishes,

Bradford Haas
Director, Honors Program
Assistant Professor, English
Washington Adventist University
E-mail: bhaas@wau.edu