and then we will have saunter and chat . . . .

William Cowper, writing to Lady Hesketh 27 June 1788:

I have made in the Orchard the best Winter walk in all the parish, shelter’d from the East and from the North East, and open to the Sun, except at his rising, all the day.  Then we will have Homer and Don Quixote, and then we will have saunter and Chat, and one Laugh more before we die.  Our Orchard is alive with creatures of all kinds, poultry of ev’ry denomination swarms in it, and pigs the drollest in the world.  By that time indeed they will have ceased to be pigs and will probably be converted into pork or bacon, but we have also a most fruitful sow from whom we expect a continual and endless succession of pigs similar to these . . . .

DM

the long eighteenth at galveston, tx: scsecs ‘09, feb. 5-8

Since Galveston is busy rebuilding after the destruction of Ike, I thought it would be nice to chair a panel there for SCSECS, which will be held at the historic Tremont House in the downtown area.  This area, it seems, was not nearly as badly hit as some of the coastal areas, and so businesses are already reopening.

I will not try to compete with Kevin Cope’s exuberant prose, so here’s the CFP:

SCSECS 2009, February 5-8, GALVESTON, TEXAS
“An Effervescent Era”

All persons with an ardent interest in the long eighteenth-century are invited to present papers or to organize panels at SCSECS 2009.

There are many ways in which to join the program. Participants may send a paper proposal to any of the seminar organizers shown below. Those who may be writing papers on topics other than those represented in the preliminary list below may send their proposals directly to the conference organizer, Kevin L. Cope, at jovialintelligence@cox.net, who will insure that they find a place in one of the many seminars that will crop up from at-large submissions. Those who would like to organize a panel should send a description of that seminar to the aforementioned address. Especially welcome are completed panels for which the leader has recruited participants. Deadline for submission of proposals is December 31, 2008, although those in special circumstances may request a short extension.

If you prefer snail-mail, send your proposal to Professor Kevin L. Cope, Department of English, LSU, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 70803. Or fax it to 225-751-3161.

***

I’ll be chairing a round-table on life-writing, which still has several slots open, and I would urge anyone else who wishes to offer a paper or panel topic for this conference to get in touch with Kevin ASAP.

Those interested in submitting a proposal for my panel should send a paragraph-long proposal abstract to me at dmazella@uh.edu.  Proposals are welcome on any aspect of researching, interpreting, or teaching autobiography, memoir, or other forms of life-writing from our period.

I should also mention that two other members of the Long Eighteenth, namely Dwight Codr and Gena Zuroski (the Lady Z) will be chairing panels there as well.  If others intend to go, let us know about it.

Best wishes,

DM