TS Eliot Festival - Little Gidding
What? The Festival is a major literary and musical celebration of the life and work of Nobel Prize winning writer Thomas Stearns Eliot (1888-1965). A weekend of lectures, readings and music, celebrating the life and work of TS Eliot in the splendid setting of Little Gidding. for festival goers to share their interests and enthusiasms amidst the intimate surroundings of Little Gidding.
Who? 2010 See below
When? Saturday 17 July 2010.
Where? Little Gidding, Oundle School, Oundle, Peterborough, England, AA Route Planner | multimap
How much? Tickets for the day are £25, including welcome drink, lunch, and afternoon tea.
Festival Website: http://littlegidding.org.uk/eliotfestival
Fifth Annual T S ELIOT FESTIVAL 2010 Programme
Note: all timings are approximate and may be subject to change. The details of speakers and talks are confirmed, but may be subject to change due to unforeseen circumstances.
11.00am
Festival opens
11.30am
‘AN END AND A BEGINNING’ PART I: NICHOLAS FERRAR AND LITTLE GIDDING
Dr Joyce Ransome introduces the significance of Little Gidding and Nicholas Ferrar – what brought T S Eliot to Little Gidding;
accompanied by a choral reading of ‘Little Gidding’
Dr Joyce Ransome of Brown University in the USA is a leading researcher on Nicholas Ferrar and the Ferrar family. Her new biography of Nicholas will be published by Lutterworth Press shortly. The choral reading of ‘Little Gidding’ is led by Joy Farey-Wood.
12.30pm
Lunch
1.30pm
ON THE PUBLICATION OF THE COMPLETE WORKS
Professor John Haffenden and Professor Ronald Schuchard
A discussion on the T S Eliot Research Project which is co-ordinating, for the first time, the editing of the poetry, plays, prose and correspondence, edited to the standards expected by scholar, student and general reader. Professor Haffenden of Sheffield University is the Principal Investigator of the Project, and editing the Complete Plays, and Professor Schuchard of Emory University, USA, is General Editor of the Complete Prose.
3.00pm
ANNUAL LITTLE GIDDING LECTURE of the T S Eliot Society (UK)
Professor Jewel Spears Brooker
‘ELIOT, WORDSWORTH, AND THE ROMANTIC IMAGINATION’
Jewel Spears Brooker is Professor of Literature at Eckerd College, Florida, USA, and the author of several books on Eliot.
Wordsworth and Eliot are generally seen as opposites, but Professor Brooker will demonstrate that the structure of Eliot’s imagination descends from the Romantics, and that knowledge of Wordsworth’s poetry is an excellent preparation for reading Eliot’s work.
4.00pm
Afternoon Tea
on the lawn of Ferrar House, weather permitting
4.30pm
‘AN END AND A BEGINNING’ PART II: A CONVERSATION with
Dr Ralph Townsend and Ingrid Soren
Ralph Townsend is Headmaster of Winchester College; Ingrid Soren is a writer and broadcaster who was keynote speaker at the 2008 Festival. They will draw out each others thoughts on Eliot’s spirituality and bring the audience into the conversation.
6.00pm
Festival Choral Evensong in Little Gidding Church
officiant: Canon Jonathan Young
choir: Hurstingstone Singers
