Editing Aphra Behn in the Digital Age

Supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council

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Upcoming Events: 9th July 2022

Canterbury Cathedral. Located in Canterbury, Kent, England, UK. Original public domain image from Wikimedia Commons

Saturday 9 July this year will be quite a day for Aphra Behn in her home city of Canterbury. Both the Canterbury organizations that Elaine Hobby has been working with have chosen that date for events celebrating Behn and advertising her achievements to a wider public. If you are interested in a trip to Canterbury (or perhaps are already based there) and fancy a Behn-focused day, please join us. It is less than a week before the start of the Early Modern Words conference in Loughborough.

First, during the day on 9 July, the bronze maquettes that are competing to be the basis of a life-size statue of Aphra in Canterbury will be on display at Canterbury Cathedral, in the Chapter House. These four mini-statues, made by world-class sculptors Victoria Atkinson, Meredith Bergmann, Maurice Blik, and Christine Charlesworth, will be accompanied by information about Behn and her Canterbury years co-written by the A Is for Aphra campaign leader, Charlotte Cornell, and Elaine Hobby. Visitors to the Cathedral will be invited to vote for which maquette is the best image of Aphra, and to take away leaflets telling them more about her.

Close-up, Aphra Behn’s Widdow Ranter (1690), Folger Shakespeare Library, B1774.

Then on the evening of 9 July, from 6-8 p.m., the Aphra Behn Society is hosting an Aphra Behn Garden Party in the nearby village of Ickham. The centrepiece of the evening will be the performance of extracts from Behn’s second play, The Amorous Prince (1671), by members of the Canterbury Players. Elaine, who is editing the play for the Cambridge Edition, has provided the script and some notes for the director, Sally Elkerton. This is, we believe, the first performance of The Amorous Prince since its première in 1671 – yes, that’s 351 years ago, and this July performance marks the play’s advertising for sale in the Term Catalogues.

If you can make yourself free on Saturday 9 July, do come along. Further details of the maquette tour are here. An invitation to the Garden Party (£10 per head, a fee that includes a year’s membership of the Society; £5 for those who are already members) can be achieved by contacting the Aphra Behn Society Chair@AphraBehnSocietyUK.com.

Early Modern Words

Conference Programme Now Available!

It’s been a long time coming (two years, no less), but the programme for the July 2022 conference, celebrating all things both Early Modern and Word-y, is now available.

Our conference will take place 14th-16th July 2022 at Loughborough University, and we look forward to welcoming speakers from across literature, linguistics, history and digital humanities who share a passion and expertise in the period c.1500-1700.

We have plenaries from Prof Ruth Ahnert, Prof Martin Dzelzainis, Prof Tim Harris and Prof Terttu Nevalainen, plus specialist panels, workshops and plenty of time for conversations and discussion.

Conference Programme (available as a PDF)

Full list of papers by title and author

If you wish to register for the conference, use the link below which will take you to the Loughborough University store: Register for the conference

A is for Aphra Statue Campaign: Shortlist Announced

The A is the Aphra campaign team (which includes our very own Prof Elaine Hobby), continue to work towards the creation of a statue of Behn in her birth city of Canterbury, Kent.

This week they have reached an exciting stage in the process: a shortlist of four sculptors: Victoria Atkinson, Meredith Bergmann, Maurice Blik and Christine Charlesworth.

The artists are now tasked with creating 50cm bronze maquettes. The winning design will be voted for by the public later this year.

You can read more about the campaign and the shortlisted designers here

If you wish to support the campaign, please see the official website: www.aisforaphra.org

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