Symposium: Perspectives on Tim Robinson

Friday 9th – Saturday 10th September, 2011 (SEATS LIMITED) Funded by The British Academy and National University of Ireland, Galway Partners Folding Landscapes The Atlantic Archipelago Research Project at the University of Exeter and the Moore Institute, National University of Ireland Galway The Ryan Institute for Environmental, Marine and Energy Research, National University of Ireland Galway The Centre for Innovation and Structural Change, National University of Ireland Galway The Connemara Symposium brings together artists, writers, scholars and the public in conversation with the work of Tim Robinson. It is supported by the Atlantic Archipelagos Research Project (AARP), which is a collaboration between the National University of Ireland, Galway, and the University of Exeter. AARP is grateful to acknowledge the support of the British Academy, the University of Exeter and the National University of Ireland, Galway, in bringing these events to life. Tim Robinson is best known for his two-volume study Stones of Aran: Pilgrimage and Labyrinth (republished by New York Review of Books Classics Series 2008-9); he is currently completing the final volume of a trilogy, Connemara: Listening to the Wind (2006) and The Last Pool of Darkness (2008). The recipient of a major European Conservation Award in 1987, Robinson was Parnell Visiting Fellow in Irish Studies at Magdalene College, Cambridge this last year. Tim Robinson’s two-volume study Stones of Aran was described by the Irish Times as äóÖOne of the most original, revelatory and exhilarating works of literature ever produced in Ireland’ and by the London Review of Books as äóÖa wonderful achievement’. Next year is the 25th anniversary of the first publication of Tim Robinson’s Stones of Aran: Pilgrimage. The Connemara Symposium offers a unique opportunity to engage with his work and follows a previous meeting in Cambridge, which you can view here – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8OaP7VMOec. The Connemara Symposium brings some of the world’s leading creative thinkers and artists engaged with questions of human society and the environment to Galway. All events are free and open to the public. A full schedule of events is below. Please contact mooreinstitute@nuigalway.ie for further details and updates. We look forward to seeing you in September. DRAFT SCHEDULE – SUBJECT TO CHANGE – PLEASE CHECK BACK FOR UPDATES Friday 9th September 1:00-2.15 Location: Galway City Museum Opening remarks: Nicholas Allen (NUI Galway) Plenary Lecture: John Elder (Middlebury College) – äóÖEdge to Edge’ Break 2.15-2.30 2.30-4:00 Location: Galway City Museum Conversation One: Poetry and Landscape Matthew Campbell (University of Sheffield) Moynagh Sullivan (NUI Maynooth) Hugh Haughton (University of York) Briona Nic Dhiarmidha (University of Notre Dame) 7pm Location: Roundstone Community Hall Reception and screening of Pat Collins film, äóÖTim Robinson: Connemara’ Saturday, September 10 11:00-12.30pm Location: Galway City Museum Plenary Lecture: Tim Robinson – äóÖA Land without Shortcuts’ 2-3.30pm Location: Galway City Museum Conversation Two: Prose and Landscape John Brannigan (University College Dublin) Eamon Wall (University of Missouri-St Louis) Christine Cusick (Seton Hill University) John Wylie (University of Exeter) Kelly Sullivan (Boston College) 3.30-4:00pm Break 4:00-4.45pm Location: Galway City Museum Conversation with Norman Ackroyd http://www.normanackroyd.com/ 4.45-5:00pm Location: Galway City Museum Closing remarks: Nick Groom (University of Exeter) 7.30pm Location: Druid Theatre Reception and readings at the Druid Theatre Free and open to the public Readings from Andrew McNeillie; Manchíçn Mangan; Moya Cannon; Eamon Grennan; Tim Robinson