Brandeis Novel Symposium
The Brandeis Novel Symposium will be held on Friday, October 25, 2024 from 1 PM-6 PM in the Liberman-Miller Lecture Hall at the Women's Studies Research Center. This year's conference will feature Anna Burns's Milkman (2018).
Registration for BNS 2024 is now open. Register here.
Welcome to the Brandeis Novel Symposium. Each year, this one-day conference has a dual focus: both on a particular novel and on theoretical and scholarly questions raised by the novel more generally. This year's featured text is Anna Burns’s "Milkman" (2018). Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Anna Burns is the author of three novels, "No Bones" (2001), "Little Constructions" (2020), and "Milkman," for which she won the Man Booker Prize in 2018. Set in an unnamed nation during a period of political conflict extremely reminiscent of Northern Ireland's Troubles, "Milkman" raises important questions regarding power, consent, and personal responsibility during times of national struggle.
As in previous years, our papers and discussions will set the central text in relation to the broader theoretical, formal, and historical issues it raises. Presenters will address its connection to the Irish novel, the historical novel, and world literature; the representation of sexual violence and political activism; and the policing and transgression of geopolitical boundaries.
The conference is free and open to all, but we ask that you register using this form.
No prior knowledge is required, and Boston-area participation has always been widespread. A link for livestream access will be available on the conference website for those who cannot attend in person. Any US-based graduate student or undergraduate will receive a free copy of "Milkman" upon registration.