The Battle for Books

26-29 June 2012

Trinity College Dublin, Ireland

The twentieth annual conference of the Society for the History of Authorship, Reading & Publishing (SHARP) will be held in Dublin, Ireland between 26 and 29 June 2012.

The Theme

In a city like Dublin, which has been home to Swift, Wilde and Joyce one naturally thinks of ‘The Battle for Books’ in terms of censorship, constraint and restraint. While these will be significant topics at the conference, scholars have been invited to examine the theme as broadly as possible.

On the production side of the industry we will consider the financial, emotional and organisational struggles of authors, printers and publishers to bring books to market. Papers will also analyse the distribution, sale and reception of books across a range of time periods and geographical locations.

There is plenty of scope to develop ‘The Battle for Books’ in a historical context, but speakers will also examine the future for books, the book-trade and the printing industry in the context of current and future technological innovations.

Registration

Registration for the SHARP Dublin 2012 Conference is now open, https://www.conftool.pro/sharp2012/

Those who created accounts when they submitted papers can follow the link and select ‘Register as Participant’. Those who are new to the ConfTool system can follow the link above to create a user account and register. Payment for registration is via PayPal, which accepts all major credit cards.

Cost: €240 Standard Price; €160 Reduced Price (Graduate students, Postdocs, Independent Scholars, Retired/Unwaged). Registration fee includes the full four days of the conference, all coffee breaks and three lunches.

Programme

The closing date for the Call for Papers was 30 November 2011. More than 300 proposals for individual papers and panel sessions were received in response to this call and each paper was considered by a panel of six international reviewers. The final programme will include over 170 papers, four plenaries and a public event sponsored by The Irish Times. A draft programme has been released and a final programme will be released by 25 May 2012.

Contact

For additional information or queries, please email sharp2012queries@gmail.com.

Committee

The members of the SHARP 2012 committee are:

Dr Sarah Alyn-Stacey, Trinity College Dublin, Dr Johanna Archbold, Trinity Long Room Hub, Trinity College Dublin, Dr Charles Benson, Keeper of Early Printed Books Emeritus, Trinity College Dublin, Dr Elizabethann Boran, The Librarian, The Worth Library, Dublin, Dr Laura Cleaver, Trinity College Dublin, Dr David Dickson, Trinity College Dublin, Dr James Hanrahan, Trinity College Dublin, Dr Bill McCormack, Librarian Emeritus, The Worth Library, Dublin, Dr Jason McElligott, The Keeper, Marsh’s Library, Dublin, Dr Eve Patten, Trinity College Dublin, Ms Patricia Quigley, Trinity College Dublin.

The convenor is: Dr Jason McElligott, Marsh’s Library, Dublin.

Supporters and Sponsors

The 20th annual SHARP is organised by the Trinity Long Room Hub, Marsh’s Library, Dublin and the Worth Library, Dublin in conjunction with Dublin City Public Libraries, The National Library of Ireland, The National Gallery of Ireland, The Royal Irish Academy, the National Printing Museum, the Chester Beatty Library, the library of the Royal Dublin Society, and the UCD Humanities Institute.