Thursday, October 26, 2006

Writer:  Suzi Wong, 706/542-7103, swong@uga.edu
Contacts: Tricia Lootens, 706/542-1261, tlootens@uga.edu; Simon Gatrell, 706/542-1261, sgatrell@uga.edu

UGA’s  British and Irish Studies Program to present lecture on “The Erotics of Dress in Thomas Hardy’s novels”

Athens, Ga. -- Simon Gatrell, University of Georgia professor of English and a leading scholar of the work of the English poet and novelist Thomas Hardy, will deliver the annual British and Irish Studies Program (BISP) lecture on Nov. 9, 2006 at 4:30 p.m. in room 265 of Park Hall.  The title of his talk is “The Erotics of Dress in Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles and The Mayor of Casterbridge.”  Sponsored by BISP, the English department, and the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, the lecture and reception following it, are free and open to the public.

Thomas Hardy (1840-1928; right), equally valued as a poet and novelist, is best known for novels such as Tess of the d'Urbervilles and Jude the Obscure, works which marry a profound insight into character with an acute sense of the conditions of human existence.  Over time, he developed the idea of a single fictional environment for all his work, for which he revived the ancient name “Wessex,” based on the topography of southwestern England. Gatrell adds that “Hardy’s delicate handling of the balance between fiction and reality has influenced many subsequent writers, including William Faulkner, and the series of poems he wrote after the death of his first wife Emma ranks among the finest elegies in the language.”

Gatrell has published three full-length studies of aspects of Hardy's writing: Hardy the Creator: A Textual Biography, Thomas Hardy and the Proper Study of Mankind, and Thomas Hardy’s Vision of Wessex. He also has created critical editions of three of Hardy's novels and edited the manuscripts of two of those texts. In addition to his publications on Hardy, Gatrell has written on other Victorian poets and novelists and edited a book on the response of Victorian and Edwardian writers to the idea of “abroad” (The Ends of the Earth [vol. IV (1876-1918) of English Literature and the Wider World]). Gatrell’s other special interest is Irish literature, and he has written on Seamus Heaney and Jennifer Johnston, and is finishing a biography of Irish poet William Allingham. South African literature is also a developing interest.
 
The British-Irish Studies Program (BISP) at the University of Georgia offers a certificate to undergraduates who have a substantial number (18 hours) of courses that focus on British studies. The interdisciplinary certificate will enhance the academic profile of students applying to competitive graduate programs, both in the United States and at British institutions. It is also useful preparation for professional study in international law or for careers with international firms. The certificate should also help students who apply for fellowships to study in the United Kingdom (such as the Rhodes, Gates, and Marshall).

For more information or to apply, visit http://english.uga.edu/~bisp/ or contact BISP Director Tricia Lootens at 706/542-1261 or tlootens@uga.edu.

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