A conference dedicated to Elias Canetti, and a dramatic reading from his unpublished diaries will explore the life of the author in Britain this September in two distinguished ways.
The conference 'Emigré Encounters: Elias Canetti in Britain' brings together an international network of scholars to discuss the 1981 Nobel Prize winner's unusual place in British cultural life. Unknown on his arrival on these shores in flight from the Nazis in 1939, Canetti did not publish anything new in England for over twenty years, but he read avidly, cultivated friendships with literary luminaries and minor aristocrats and left indelible traces in his contemporaries' writing, influencing authors as diverse as Iris Murdoch and Anthony Burgess. As well as scrutinising Canetti's hybrid status as a writer of German who drew scores of aspiring and established writers from all over the European continent to Hampstead until relocating to Zurich on becoming a father, this conference will consider Canetti's lifelong crusade against death and his fascination with world cultures against the backdrop of his adoptive homeland.
Wednesday 23 to Friday 25 September
The conference will take place in person at the University of London, Senate House.
All are welcome to attend but booking is essential.
More Information on tickets and how to book: here.
A Fear of Touching: A Dramatic Reading from Elias Canetti's Unpublished Diaries
Nobel Prize winner Elias Canetti's candid diaries about his British life, loves and loathings have lain under lock and key since his death. Now, thirty years on, they have been translated into English for the first time. This reading will see Canetti translators Professor Peter Filkins (Bard College, USA) and Dr Jack Arscott (Swansea University/Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) breathe vivid life into a selection from the forthcoming book A Fear of Touching: Reflections on British Life and Letters. The line-up is completed by Canetti's biographer Professor Sven Hanuschek (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) and Heide Helwig, the editor of a volume of his character sketches. The occasion will be chaired by Elaine Morley, author of a ground-breaking study on the philosophical relationship between Canetti and the novelist Iris Murdoch.
Thursday 24 September, 7pm
Burgh House, Hampstead
New End Square
London, NW3 1LT
More information on tickets and how to book: here.
