Collaborations: EPIC

THE EZRA POUND INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE - EPIC

by Walter Baumann

HISTORY

Carroll “Terry” Franklin Terrell (1917-2003), founder of the National Poetry Foundation and Paideuma, was also the begetter of the Pound conference, which put Orono, ME, on the map of the study of Modernism. When Philip Grover organized the first Pound conference in England, to do something, as an American, about the bicentenary of the Declaration of Independence, Terry gave him his full support. The Sheffield conference was also attended by Philip’s colleague, Omar S. Pound, and by David Gordon. The enthusiasm created by the Sheffield Pound conference led to a second gathering in Keele that same year. In 1977 Stephen Fender, then at UCL, took over. Terry came to most of the conferences in England and he was also responsible for the participation of Hugh Kenner (1923-2003) at many of the European Pound conferences. In Durham in 1979 we also enjoyed the presence of Basil Bunting and actor Denis Goacher, the two best readers of Pound’s Cantos, apart from Pound himself.

While the conferences in England became rather smaller than at the beginning, a new era started with the Brunnenburg conference in 1991. The gatherings in Orono in 1980, 1985 and 1990 (the latter mysteriously left out of the count!) were truly big events, but Brunnenburg 1991, organized by Richard Taylor, equally attracted larger numbers than the ten conferences in England. In 1991 William Pratt became the first elected Conference Secretary. He and Massimo Bacigalupo were responsible for the Rapallo conferences in 1993 and 2005. Philip Grover put on his third conference in Brantôme in 1995, and Richard Taylor his second one at Brunnenburg in 1997, where a narrow majority voted for going to Beijing in 1999, convened by Zhaoming Qian. At the Beijing Business Meeting, the majority voted for Paris in 2001, although a pressure group from Hailey, Idaho, had campaigned hard for taking the conference to Pound’s place of birth. They were successful, however, at the Paris Business Meeting, and Hugh Witemeyer was put in charge of the academic program for Sun Valley in 2003. At Rapallo 2005, where John Gery became William Pratt’s successor as Conference Secretary, those who voted for Venice outvoted those who fancied a return to Brunnenburg. The Venice conference in 2007 was among the biggest Pound gatherings ever, although the conference continues to grow in participants and popularity.

The conference is a forum for people from all walks of life who have a serious interest in the life and works of Ezra Pound and wish to exchange their knowledge and ideas. A constantly updated mailing list is used to ensure a wide distribution of the calls for papers, which are also published in Paideuma. This is an opportunity for those who wish to give a paper, conduct a seminar or take an active part in any way, to submit a proposal for consideration to the organisers.

It is also an opportunity for those who simply wish to attend to indicate their intention to register.

OFFICERS:

The conference host is normally also the Chief Organiser. In 1991 the Business Meeting, which is held in the course of every conference, approved the creation of the office of Conference Secretary and elected William Pratt as its first incumbent. At the Rapallo conference in 2005, John Gery was elected Conference Secretary, to succeed William Pratt. The number of committee members is decided at every business meeting in consultation with the new Chief Organiser.

BUSINESS MEETING:

The main task of the Business meeting is to ensure the continuity of the conference. It must reach an agreement on the venue and the general scope of the next conference. Further regular matters are the election of the Conference Secretary and other officers and a review of the conference format.

FINANCE:

The main source of finance is the conference fee levied from each participant. Concessions, such as reduced fees for partners or graduate students, are at the discretion of the Chief Organiser in consultation with the committee. The Chief Organiser also has the authority to seek financial assistance from local bodies or sponsors, particularly for additional programme items such as exhibitions and concerts. Any surplus left after the conference has met all its obligations is to be handed on to the next Chief Organiser. The Business meeting or the committee may, however, decide to use the surplus or part of it to help finance the publication of the conference papers or to set up travel grants for future conferences.

RULE CHANGES:

The Business meeting can consider, approve or reject rule change proposals, which must be submitted in writing at least 48 hours in advance.

LIST OF CONFERENCES

Walter Baumann. Photo portrait retrospective exhibition London, 2011.

NO.	DATE	THEME	ORGANIZERS	PLACE	PROCEEDINGS	REPORTS, PROGRAMS and PHOTOS
1^st	June 15-17, 1975.	Symposium on Ezra Pound's 90th Birthyear	Carroll Terrell	Orono, ME, United States		Marion Hamilton. Conference Report. Paideuma. The Maine Alumnus, Volume 56 Number 4 (Summer 1975): 7.
2^nd	April 21-23, 1976	Ezra Pound and London	Philip Grover	Sheffield, United Kingdom	Grover, Philip.Ezra Pound: The London Years. New York: AMS Press, 1978.	David Seed “Conference Report.” Paideuma 5.2 (Fall 1976): 339-42.
3^rd	Sept. 20-23, 1976		Richard Law	Keele, United Kingdom		Martin Kayman. Conference Report. Paideuma 5.3 (Winter 1976): 361-67.
4^th	Sept. 9-12, 1977		Stephen Fender	London, United Kingdom		Diana Surman. Conference Report. Paideuma 6.3 (Winter 1977): 393-97.
5^th	March 27-30, 1979		Diana Surman	Durham, United Kingdom		Carroll F. Terrell. Conference Report: Paideuma 8.2 (Fall 1979): 336-49. (photos 343-347). David Holloway. Conference Report: Paideuma 8.3 (Winter 1979): 563-70.
6^th	Aug. 21-24, 1980	Celebrating Ezra Pound’s 95th Birthyear	Carroll Terrell	Orono, ME, United States		Conference Program. E. P. Walkiewicz. Conference Report: Paideuma 10.1 (Spring 1981): 173-80.
7^th	April 11-14, 1981	Ezra Pound and Modernism	Philip Grover	Sheffield, United Kingdom		Brendan Jackson. Conference Report: Paideuma 11.1 (Spring & Summer 1982).
8^th	April 5-8, 1982	Ezra Pound and History	Marianne Korn	Middlesex, United Kingdom	Korn, Marianne. Ezra Pound and History. Orono: National Poetry Foundation, 1985.
9^th	March 28-30, 1983	Ezra Pound and the Visual Arts	Lionel Kelly	Reading, United Kingdom		Lionel Kelly. Conference Report: Paideuma 12.2&3 (Fall & Winter 1983): 481-88.
10^th	April 16-18, 1984	Ezra Pound and Music	David Moody	York, United Kingdom		Colin Edwards. Conference Report: Paideuma 13.3 (Winter 1984): 435-43.
11^th	June 19-22, 1985	The Ezra Pound Centennial Conference	Carroll Terrell	Orono, ME, United States		Conference Program.
12^th	April 14-16, 1987		Marianne Korn	Oxford, United Kingdom
13^th	Sept. 5-7, 1989	Ezra Pound and America	Jacqueline Kaye	Essex, United Kingdom	Kaye, Jacqueline, ed. Ezra Pound and America. Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1992.
14^th	July 16-18, 1991	Ezra Pound and Europe	Richard Taylor	Brunnenburg, Italy	Taylor, Richard and Claus Melchior, eds. Ezra Pound and Europe. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 1993.	William McNaughton. Conference Report: Paideuma 20.3 (Winter 1991): 89-118. Helen V. Emmitt. Conference Report: Paideuma 20.3 (Winter 1991): 119-24. Photos by WB 125-34.
15^th	July 14-16, 1993	Ezra Pound, Nature and Myth	Massimo Bacigalupo & William Pratt	Rapallo, Italy	Pratt, William, ed. Ezra Pound: Nature and Myth. Brooklyn, NY, AMS P, 2002.	Leslie Hatcher. Conference Report: Paideuma 22.3 (Winter 1993): 111-22. Photos by WB 125-36. Max Nänny. Conference Report: "15th Ezra Pound International Conference." Anglistik: International Journal of English Studies 5.1 (1994): 114.
16^th	July 18-21, 1995	Ezra Pound and France	Philip Grover	Brantôme, France	Grover, Philip, ed. Ezra Pound and the troubadours: selected papers from the Ezra Pound conference, Brantôme, France, 1995. Gardonne: Fédérop, ©2000. Clerici, Leonardo, ed. M'elevasti Pound. Nella tonalità di Aiax secondo l'opera di Filostrato, o la tragedia de Ira di Seneca o Sofocle. Les vrais actes de B & B [16th & 17th International Ezra Pound Conferences: Brantôme 14-16 July, 1995 and Brunnenburg 12-15 July, 1997]. Bruxelles: Istituto di Skriptura, 2003	William McNaughton. Conference Report. Paideuma 27.1 (Spring 1998): 117-53. Program reproduced. Catharina Blomberg. Conference Report. Paideuma 27.2 & 3 (Fall & Winter 1998): 229-38. Photos by WB 241-52.
17^th	July 3-5, 1997	Ezra Pound and Poetic Influence	Richard Taylor	Brunnenburg, Italy	Dennis, Helen May, ed. Ezra Pound and Poetic Influence: The Official Proceedings of the 17th International Ezra Pound Conference. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2000. Clerici, Leonardo, ed. M'elevasti Pound. Nella tonalità di Aiax secondo l'opera di Filostrato, o la tragedia de Ira di Seneca o Sofocle. Les vrais actes de B & B [16th & 17th International Ezra Pound Conferences: Brantôme 14-16 July, 1995 and Brunnenburg 12-15 July, 1997]. Bruxelles: Istituto di Skriptura, 2003	Leon Surette. Conference Report. Paideuma 28.2&3 (Fall & Winter 1999): 231-38. Photos by WB 239-44.
18^th	July 16-19, 1999	Ezra Pound and China	Zhaoming Qian	Beijing, China	Qian, Zhaoming, ed. Ezra Pound & China. Ann Arbor: The U of Michigan Press, 2003.	"Program: 'Ezra Pound and the Orient.' 18th Biennial International Pound Conference, Beijing, China, 16-26 July 1999." Paideuma 31.1-3 (Spring, Fall and Winter 2002): 373-376. William McNaughton. Conference Report: Paideuma 31.1,2&3 (Spring Fall & Winter 2002): 355-72. Photos by Gregory Harvey, May Qian, John Gery, Zhaoming Qian, William McNaughton, and Biljana D. Obradovic 377-384.
19^th	July 5-8, 2001	Ezra Pound and the 20th Century	Helene Aji, Peter Nicolls and J-M. Rabaté	Paris, Sorbonne, France	Aji, Hélène, ed. Ezra Pound and Referentiality: The 19th International Ezra Pound Conference, Université de Paris-IV Sorbonne, 2001. Paris: Présses de l’Université de Paris-Sorbonne, 2003.
20^th	July 2-6, 2003	Ezra Pound and American Identity	Hugh Witemeyer	Sun Valley, IO, United States	Ezra Pound and American Identity. Ed. Hugh Witemeyer. Orono, Me.: National Poetry Foundation, 2005. A special issue of Paideuma 34.2-3 (Fall & Winter 2005).	Hugh Witemeyer. Conference Report: Paideuma 34.2&3 (Fall & Winter 2005): 3-10. Conference Program. Abstracts.
21^st	July 4-7, 2005	Ezra Pound, Language and Persona	Massimo Bacigalupo & William Pratt	Rapallo, Italy	Bacigalupo, Massimo, and William Pratt, ed. and introd. Ezra Pound, Language and Persona.Genoa: Dipartimento di Scienze della Comunicazione Linguistica e Culturale, Università degli Studi di Genova, 2008. Available online.	Massimo Bacigalupo. "History and the American Poet." RSA Journal 14 (2003): 3-16. In part, a report on the confernce. Kiely, Kevin. "An Irishman's Diary." The Irish Times (July 23, 2005): 15. Conference program. List of participants.
22^nd	June 26-29, 2007	Ends and Beginnings	John Gery & Rosella Mamoli Zorzi	Venice: International University, Isola di San Servolo, Italy	Gery, John and William Pratt, eds. Ezra Pound, Ends and Beginnings: Essays and Poems from the Ezra Pound International Conference Venice, 2007. New York: AMS Press, 2011.	Conference program.
23^nd	June 30-July 4, 2009	ROMA AMOR: Pound, Love, and Rome	John Gery, Caterina Ricciardi & Massimo Bacigalupo	Rome: Centro Studi Americani, Italy	Pratt, William, and Caterina Ricciardi, eds. ROMA/AMOR: Ezra Pound, Rome, and Love. New York: AMS Press, 2013.	Rome, 2009 - photo album. Conferene website. Conference program. and here and here.
24^th	July 5-9, 2011	Ezra Pound and London	John Gery & Richard Parker	London: Institute of English Studies, Senate House, University of London, United Kingdom	Baumann, Walter and William Pratt, eds. Ezra Pound and London. New Perspectives. New York: AMS Press, 2015	London, 2011 - photo album Conference program.
25^th	July 9-13, 2013	Ezra Pound & Modernism	Walter Baumann & Stephen Wilson	Dublin: Trinity College Dublin & Mater Dei Institute, Republic of Ireland	Baumann, Walter and William Pratt, eds. Ezra Pound and Modernism. The Irish Factor. Brighton: Edward Everett Root Publishers, 2017.	Dublin, 2013 - photo album. Conference program Stephen Wilson. "Ezra Pound's Transatlantic Poet's Society." The Irish Times, 9 July 2013. [on Pound's links with Irish writers and politicians and the opening of the 25th Ezra Pound International Conference, Dublin, Ireland, July 9-13, 2013]
26^th	July 6-12, 2015	Ezra Pound and the Green World	Walter Baumann, Siegfried de Rachewiltz & John Gery	Brunnenburg, Dorf Tirol, Merano, Italy	Baumann, Walter and Caterina Ricciardi, eds. Ezra Pound’s Green World: Nature, Landscape and Language. Papers from the 26th Ezra Pound International Conference at Brunnenburg, 2015. Brighton: Edward Everett Root Publishers, 2019	Brunnenburg, 2015 photo albums: Walter Baumann Star Black Conference website Conference program. Roxana Preda. A Conference Diary. Make It New 2.2 (September 2020): 18-25.
27th	June 19-23, 2017	Ezra Pound, Philadelphia Genius, and Modern American Poetry: William Carlos Williams, Hilda Doolittle, and Marianne Moore	Emily Mitchell Wallace, David McKnight, Walter Baumann, & John Gery	Philadelphia,United States: Kislak Center for Special Collections, University of Pennsylvania	Baumann, Walter, John Gery and Alexander McKnight, eds. Cross-Cultural Ezra Pound. Clemson: Clemson UP, 2021.	Philadephia, 2017 - photo album. Conference website. Hughes, Samuel. "Finally, an EPIC at Penn." The Pennsylvania Gazette (November/December 2017). Shepard, Louisa. "For the first time, international Ezra Pound conference to be held at Penn." Penn Current, June 8, 2017. Timpane, John. "Penn conference on Ezra Pound: Homecoming for a bad-boy genius." The Philadelphia Inquirer, June 20, 2017.
28^th	June 25-29 2019	Ezra Pound and the Spanish World	Viorica Patea, Walter Baumann & John Gery	Salamanca: University of Salamanca, Spain		Salamanca, 2019 - photo album. Conference website. Byron, Mark. "28th Ezra Pound International Conference, University of Salamanca, Spain, 25-29 June 2019: Ezra Pound and the Spanish World." Make It New 5.2-3 (Winter 2019). Bacigalupo, Massimo. "Ezra Pound e il mondo ispanico," Poesia 32.352 (Oct. 2019): 67-75.
29^th	June 24-26 2022	Ezra Pound and Friendship	Akitoshi Nagahata, John Gery, & Walter Baumann	Kyoto, Japan virtual conference		program of the conference
30th	June 2023	The Legacy of the Cantos	Roxana Preda, Andrew Taylor, John Gery and Walter Baumann	University of Edinburgh