THE DURRELL SCHOOL OF CORFU’S LAWRENCE DURRELL CENTENARY SEMINAR, JUNE 2012 (PROVISIONAL PROGRAMME)

Lawrence Durrell in Corfu: A Centenary Reappraisal

20–27 June 2012

PROVISIONAL PROGRAMME

(Issued 28 February 2012, and liable to further revision before the date of the seminar.)

WEDNESDAY 20 JUNE
6.30 – 8.30 p.m. — Welcome Reception in the Library of the Durrell School
THURSDAY 21 JUNE
10.00 a.m. – 12.00 noon — Session 1 — Introducing the Themes
Opening Remarks by Anthony Hirst (Academic Director, Durrell School of Corfu)
Keynote Lecture by Richard Pine (Director Emeritus, Durrell School of Corfu, author of
Lawrence Durrell: The Mindscape), addressing the main themes of the seminar:


LAWRENCE DURRELL IN CORFU, and REAPPRAISING DURRELL AT A HUNDRED.
12.30 – 2.30 p.m. — Session 2 — Travel Writing
Martha Klironomos (Professor of English and Modern Greek Studies, San Francisco State
University)
TRAVEL WRITING, PHOTOGRAPHY AND PRACTICE: COMPARING THE WORK OF LAWRENCE DURRELL
AND PATRICK LEIGH FERMOR
David Roessel (Professor of Greek Language and Literature, Stockton College)
REFLECTIONS ON REFLECTIONS AT 60: A REASSESSMENT OF LAWRENCE DURRELL’S REFLECTIONS ON
A MARINE VENUS: A COMPANION TO THE LANDSCAPE OF RHODES.
6.00 – 8.00 p.m. — Book Launch
Joanna Hodgkin will present her new book,
AMATEURS IN EDEN: THE STORY OF A BOHEMIAN MARRIAGE: NANCY AND LAWRENCE DURRELL,
a biography of her mother, born Nancy Myers, who later became Nancy Durrell, and then Nancy
Hodgkin. The author also publishes as Joanna Hines.
In addition, Richard Pine and Anthony Hirst will introduce some recent Lawrence Durrell volumes
whose authors can’t be present. These will include THE STRONGER SEX: THE FICTIONAL WOMEN OF
LAWRENCE DURRELL by James R. Nichols (Chair until 2011 of the Advisory Board of the Durrell
School), and LAWRENCE DURRELL: DANS L’OMBRE DU SOLEIL GREC by Corinne Alexandre-
Garner.
FRIDAY 22 JUNE
A day at the White House, Kalami, once the home of Lawrence and Nancy Durrell, and where
Lawrence wrote Panic Spring and The Black Book. We shall travel by caïque from Corfu Town. The
day will include Session 3 of the Seminar [details to be announced later] as well as a visit to the
Shrine of St Arsenios, an opportunity for swimming, and lunch.
THE DURRELL SCHOOL OF CORFU’S LAWRENCE DURRELL CENTENARY SEMINAR
SATURDAY 23 JUNE
10.00 a.m. –12.00 noon — Session 4 — Durrell’s contemporaries writing in English
Emilie Pine (University College Dublin)
THE ITINERANT WRITER: SPAIN, IRELAND AND KATE O’BRIEN
Eve Patten (Trinity College Dublin)
‘COCKCROWS AND SHEEP BELLS’: LOUIS MACNEICE’S LETTERS FROM GREECE
12.30 – 2.30 p.m. — Session 5 — Corfu, Real and Imagined
Leonie Hodkevitch (University of Vienna, writer and journalist)
LAWRENCE & GERALD DURRELL: A MAP OF PERSONAL RECEPTION
[A second speaker to be announced later]
6.00 – 8.00 p.m. — Double Book Launch
Eve Patten will introduce her new book
IMPERIAL REFUGEE: OLIVIA MANNING’S FICTIONS OF WAR
Donald P. Kaczvinsky will introduce the recent volume that he edited,
DURRELL AND THE CITY: COLLECTED ESSAYS ON PLACE
SUNDAY 24 JUNE
All-day excursion to Butrint
This excursion is an optional extra, not covered by the Registration Fee; an additional charge will be
payable. The provisional idea is to go by boat from the New Harbour in Corfu Town to Sarande in
Albania, and from there by coach to Butrint, one of the most important archaeological sites in the
Adriatic region. Alternative ideas are under discussion. This Sunday is a rest day for those choosing
not to come to Butrint.
MONDAY 25 JUNE
10.00 a.m. –12.00 noon — Session 6 — Durrell and his Greek friends
Roderick Beaton (Koraes Professer of Modern Greek and Byzantine History, Language and
Literature, King’s College London).
DURRELL AND SEFERIS, OR HOW TO LOSE FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE
[A second speaker to be announced later]
12.30 – 2.30 p.m. — Session 7 — The Alexandria Quartet
P. Meena Grace Melbourne (Oman and India)
THE ALEXANDRIA QUARTET: AN INTERFACE BETWEEN LIFE AND ART
Anthony Hirst (Academic Director, Durrell School of Corfu)
‘WHERE TIME DOESN’T COUNT’: THE IMPOSSIBLE CHRONOLOGY OF JUSTINE AND BALTHAZAR —
SCIENCE FICTION OR THE REALISM OF FALLIBLE MEMORY?
6.00 – 8.00 p.m. — Film Screening
LAWRENCE DURRELL — A SMILE IN THE MIND’S EYE (BBC documentary, 1998)
TUESDAY 26: JUNE
10.00 a.m. –12.00 noon — Session 8 — Durrell and other cultures
Marjeta Gostin!ar Cerar (Professor of English Language and Literature, translator, Ljubljana)
LAWRENCE DURRELL AND SLOVENIA
Foteini Dimirouli (Keble College, Oxford)
PARADISE LOST? LAWRENCE DURRELL’S ‘ROMANCE’ WITH THE HELLENIC WORLD
THE DURRELL SCHOOL OF CORFU’S LAWRENCE DURRELL CENTENARY SEMINAR
TUESDAY 26 JUNE, CONTINUED
12.30 – 2.30 p.m. — Session 9 — Durrell and contemporary Greek writers
Helena González Vaquerizo (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid)
STRONG WOMEN AND INCOMPLETE MALES: PARALLEL CHARACTERS IN DURRELL AND
KAZANTZAKIS
Vassilis Letsios (Ionian University)
PARALLEL THEMES IN STRATIS TSIRKAS’ TRILOGY DRIFTING CITIES AND THE ALEXANDRIA QUARTET
5.00 – 7.00 p.m. — Film Screening
JUDITH (1966), based on a story by Lawrence Durrell, and starring Sophia Loren, Peter Finch and
Jack Hawkins.
7.30 – 9.00 p.m. Lecture by Roderick Beaton (Koraes Professer of Modern Greek and Byzantine
History, Language and Literature, King’s College London).
THE NEW PROMETHEUS: WHY BYRON WENT TO FIGHT IN THE GREEK REVOLUTION
Joint session with the Friends of the Durrell Library, who meet on the last Tuesday of each month.
WEDNESDAY 27 JUNE
10.00 a.m. — 12.00 noon Session 10 — Interractions with Lawrence Durrell
Geraldine Green (Lancaster University & Liverpool John Moores University)
A NOTE OF AFFIRMATION: MEETING AND CORRESPONDING WITH DURRELL — A TURNING POINT
Mike Diboll (until recently at the University of Bahrain)
UNTIL THEIR PAIN BECOME A LITERATURE: EXPATRIATE RESIDENCE WRITING AND MIDDLE EAST
ISLAND CONFLICTS — DURRELL ON CYPRUS, DIBOLL ON BAHRAIN
12.30 – 2.30 — Final Session
Brief introductory comments by various participants in the seminar, leading to a general discussion
of the themes, followed by closing remarks by Richard Pine and Anthony Hirst.
8.00 p.m. Farewell Dinner
———————————————————
It is hoped that the following will speakers will also be present:
Anthony Condos (Malaga), son of Leslie Durrell, to speak about his researches into family history.
Mark Davies (Literary translator from German and Greek, including Corfiot novelist Konstantinos
Theotokis’ Slaves in their Chains, due for publication this year.)
Avi Sharon (Independent researcher, USA) to speak about Lawrence Durrell’s friend, George
Katsimbalis.
Joseph Smith (Independent researcher, Cumbria, UK) to speak on MISSING PERSONS, STRANGE
BEDFELLOWS AND SOFT TARGETS: LAWRENCE DURRELL, PATRICK LEIGH FERMOR, STEVEN
RUNCIMAN AND BRITISH-COUNCIL-RELATED NETWORKS IN GREECE AND EGYPT (1939–1955).
Excursions in and around Corfu Town will also be fitted into the programme, in the afternoons.
Other films which could be shown include:
JUSTINE (1969), based on The Alexandria Quartet and starring Anouk Aimée, Dirk Bogarde and
Michael York
MY FAMILY AND OTHER ANIMALS (BBC, 2005), starring Imelda Staunton as Mrs Durrell

The Durrell Centenary in London (poster, pdf)

Dannie Abse, CBE

With Dannie Abse in Stockholm

My belated congratulations on the award of CBE to Dr. Dannie Abse, Britain's greatest living poet.

From his website:

 Dannie Abse was awarded a gong in the 2012 New Years' Honours list. His CBE for services to poetry and literature was somewhat reluctantly accepted.

“It’s a compliment, and one should always say thank you,” he said from his home in Golders Green. “Yes, I did think whether to accept it. But then I realised that Harold Pinter, far more left-wing than me, and others too have accepted honours.”

He added: “You start writing poetry as a gentle pursuit, but it can be tough in many ways too. You have to go into the darkness of oneself, as it were, to come back with some light.”

Oxfam Reading (YouTube)

From As I Was Saying

I'll not compete with those nature poets you advance,

some in country dialect, and some in dialogue 

with the country- few as calm as their words:

Wordsworth, Barnes, sad John Clare who ate grass.

From A Small Desperation, Hutchinson, 1968:

From The Listener, 10 November, 1988

Lady Holmes (1920-2012), The Times Obituary

For the benefit of those who are unable to find a copy of The Times (Saturday 17 March) on Corfu:

My apologies for the poor scanning. 

YouTube: The Art of Marjorie Holmes

IMF, "Bleak Picture for Greece"

Wall Street Journal Report, yesterday

IMF Staff latest Country Report for Greece (Pdf)


Wall Street Journal report further excerpts:

By Ian Talley of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

"The International Monetary Fund warned Friday Greece's loan program faces "exceptionally high" risks, and said Athens may need further debt restructuring and additional financing that Europe should cover.

"A disorderly euro exit would be unavoidable" without continued support, fund staff said.

IMF economists painted the bleakest picture yet of Greece's outlook just a day after the fund's executive board approved a EUR28 billion ($36.9 billion) loan for the country...

A 231-page staff report on the new loan program outlines the fund's strategies and risks involved in returning Greece back to economic health, providing the basis for IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde's Thursday warning, "there is no room for slippages."

IMF staff said Greece can't absorb any adverse shocks or program failures, otherwise risking much higher debt levels. Officials are particularly concerned about the ability of Athens to politically deliver on the tough economic-overhaul policies Greece promised to win more than EUR200 billion in loans and debt forgiveness. In the near term, fund staff are concerned upcoming elections in Athens may mean new leaders aren't as committed to overhaul policies.

"Materialization of these risks would most likely require additional debt relief by the official sector and, short of that, lead to a sovereign default," IMF staff said...

Given the challenges and Athens's track record of failing to meet targets under its old loan program, the new loan package "is subject to exceptional risks," they said. "Greece will remain accident prone," with debt expected to remain so high for such a long time, they added...

The IMF warned even if Greece implements the program fully, it could take more than a decade for the country to fix its competitiveness problem..."

ian.talley@dowjones.com
--Stelios Bouras in Athens contributed to this article.

UPDATE Interesting comments from Democracy Street

Brothers, Farther Along (Doc Watson; Hank Williams)

Brothers at a wedding (in Bristol, beginning of the 1960s;

my brother was 20 or 21; I was 17 or 18).

An amusing photo (from over fifty years ago)- if only for the hats, and hair.

Farther Along, Hank Williams

Remastered

Farther Along,  Doc Watson 

Extracts from album

Available here

Just a Country Boy (Showaddywaddy)

As we are meeting up tomorrow, some more photos of the early years:

My brother, aged 6 months, with Uncle Hubert

Above, July 1960

"Ah Nature, framed in fault,

There's comfort then, there's salt".

(Hopkins, Brothers)

"Farther along we’ll know more about it,

Farther along we’ll understand why;

Cheer up, my brother, live in the sunshine,

We’ll understand it all by and by."

(Farther Along, hear the great Doc Watson version again)

June 1945, with paternal grandmother

Simon Armitage, from the poem Afterword, some lines that could apply to brothers as much as to twins who travel through life in different directions, before returning to their childhood home:

"And they see for themselves,

each eyeing the other

through a telescope now

which had once been a mirror."

Walking and Inspiration

Sir Andrew Motion makes some persuasive points about walking and inspiration in this BBC Radio programme (I Player)

I keep meaning to buy a book on walking and the art of meditation. There are several Zen guidebooks available.

Perhaps I should simply go walking more often. Reading books and listening to the radio is not quite the same thing. Hearing somebody else striding out and getting short of breath doesn't really do the trick!