Latest events

"Wholly Other": Writing and the Writer-Critic

Date: Thu, 23 Feb 2017, 2:00 pm - 4:30 pm
Location: Room 618, Napier Building, The University of Adelaide

This masterclass with world-renowned Coetzee scholar and award-winning novelist, Professor Elleke Boehmer (Oxford), will examine how we conceptualise the relationship between writing and criticism in the works of writers who practice both. Are metaphors such as conversation, exchange or interface at all helpful? In times when more creative writers than ever before are working in academic departments of literature, but at the same time writer and critics are distancing themselves from the notion of 'critique', has this relationship become closer or simply more ambiguous? And is the ambiguity in any way stimulating for the core work that makes us writers?

The Dreamer & the Dream: A Personal Perspective on Writing Fiction

Date: Thu, 9 Mar 2017, 2:00 pm - 4:30 pm
Location: Room 618, Napier Building, The University of Adelaide

The writing of a novel is a strange and complex undertaking, one in which the fiction writer's task must be to create a dream that readers can believe. As John Gardner notes in his book The Art of Fiction, “…the organized and intelligent fictional dream that will eventually fill the reader’s mind begins as a largely mysterious dream in the writer’s mind.” Each writer approaches the making of a novel through their own unique creative practice, yet the aim of fiction writers everywhere is universal: to convince the reader to remain within the dream. Drawing on her work-in-progress, and on texts that have been instrumental in developing her own writing practice, Carol Lefevre’s masterclass will move through the important early decisions of the writing process to explore the ways in which other creative disciplines may be enlisted to enrich the
fictional dream.

Three New Works on J.M. Coetzee's Life & Writing

Date: Fri, 17 Mar 2017, 4:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Location: Hotel Richmond, 128 Rundle Mall

Preeminent novelist and moral philosopher Raimond Gaita joins us to launch three new works examining J.M. Coetzee's life and oeuvre. J.M. Coetzee’s The Childhood of Jesus: The Ethics of Ideas & Things, edited by Professors Jennifer Rutherford and Anthony Uhlmann (Bloomsbury, 2017) provides an “indispensable guide to unravelling the literary, philosophical and spiritual dimensions of Coetzee’s enigmatic novel.” (Professor Paul Patton, UNSW). A special issue of Texas Studies in Literature & Language, edited by Professors Anthony Uhlmann, Bruno Clémont and Nicholas Jose, gathers together some of the most intriguing papers from the 2014 Traverses: J.M. Coetzee in the World conference, while Traverses: J.M. Coetzee in the World App for mobile and tablet features interviews with world-renowned Coetzee scholars, archival photographs, manuscripts and much more.

Public Lecture with Professor Alan Lelchuk

Date: Wed, 5 Apr 2017, 6:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Location: 715, Ingkarni Wardli Building

Why do we read works of literature? This public lecture with award-winning writers, Professor Alan Lelchuk (Dartmouth College), will focus on the special importance of reading great works of literature in our digital age. Professor Lelchuk will discuss the power and pleasures of reading serious works of literature, be they short stories, novels or poetry, and their subsequent aesthetic and moral rewards. It is through such habits of reading that the inner life of the individual can be cultivated and preserved in all its richness.

Masterclass on Saul Bellow with Alan Lelchuk

Date: Tue, 11 Apr 2017, 2:00 pm - 4:30 pm
Location: Room 618, Napier Building, The University of Adelaide

This masterclass will focus on how the writing of Saul Bellow profoundly changed the course of American literature, ending the long influence of Hemingway with his macho heroes and spare writing style, and replacing it with a more complex protagonist. The class will include detailed examination of the stylistics techniques used in Augie March and will explore the way this led to a more open cannon and future for American literature.

Oratunga Winter School: Creating Out of Place

Date: Sun, 4 - Fri, 9 Jun 2017
Location: Oratunga Cattle Station on the traditional lands of the Adnyamathanha people

Please note, due to unforeseen circumstances, this event has regrettably had to be cancelled this year. We do, however, intend to run the winter school next year, so please stay tuned for more information.

Public Workshop on Arts & Imagination at Art Gallery of SA

Date: Mon, 3 Jul 2017, 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Location: Art Gallery of South Australia Auditorium

JMCCCP member Professor Jenny McMahon will be chairing a free public workshop at the Art Gallery of South Australia on the role of metaphors, tropes and images in shaping experience and guiding action on 3 July 2-5pm. The workshop will feature presentations by: internationally renowned artists Claire Healy and Sean Cordeiro; Dr Micheal Newell (Director, MA in Philosophy of Art & Aesthetics, University of Kent); and Dr Daniel Von Strummer (artist and senior lecturer, Monash University). The workshop is convened by the ArtSENSE: Taste & Community ARC project as part of the Australasian Association for Philosophy Conference, 2017 in collaboration with the J.M. Coetzee Centre for Creative Practice and the American Society for Aesthetics.

Either Or: A Concert Presented by Soundstream New Music

Date: Wed, 9 Aug 2017, 7:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Location: Elder Hall, the University of Adelaide

The J.M. Coetzee Centre for Creative Practice is proud to be supporting new music collective Soundstream in a unique evening of premieres that combines cutting edge electro/acoustic works with the dramatic tonal language of Irish composer Gerald Barry. The evening will feature the spectacular vocal artistry of Tasmanian born, London based soprano Alison Bell performing in Barry's La Plus Forte. Tickets can be booked here: https://www.trybooking.com/QNTI.

Water Thinking: Public Lecture by Dr Jenny Newell

Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2017, 5:45 pm - 5:45 pm
Location: Hartley Concert Room, University of Adelaide

Dr Jenny Newell (Australian Museum) will be giving a free public lecture entitled Water Thinking: Caring for Oceans and Sharing Connections in a Time of Climate Crisis. Dr Newell is currently acting director of Programs, Exhibitions and Cultural Collections at the Australian Museum, Sydney. Her particular interests are on material culture and the relationships between Pacific Islanders and their environments, while her research projects explore the cultural impacts of climate change in the Pacific. Dr Newell is giving this lecture as part of the H2O: Life and Death conference hosted by the JMCCCP and supported by the EU Centre for Global Affairs on 14th September, Hartley Concert Room.

H20: Life & Death

Date: Fri, 15 - Sat, 16 Sep 2017
Location: Antechamber of the Hartley Concert Room

Waters are contested entities at the centre of most scientific discussions about sustainability. Discourse around water management underlines both the serious absence and devastating overabundance of water: rising sea levels compete against desertification; hurricanes and floods follow periods of prolonged drought. As we increasingly pollute, canalise and desalinate waters, the ambiguous nature of our relationship with these entities becomes visible. From the paradisiac and pristine scenery of holiday postcards through to the devastated landscapes of post-tsunami news reports, images of waters surround us. And while we continue to damage what most sustains us, collective precarity grows. It is therefore unsurprising that shifting our understanding, and subsequent use, of water has been described as one of the biggest—and most pressing—challenges of our time.

[Read more about H20: Life & Death]

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