International Shaw Society

Mid-Year Newsletter for 2009

Mission Statement

The International Shaw Society, Inc., a not-for-profit organization, provides a means for those interested in the study of the life, times, and career of Bernard Shaw and his circle to coordinate their activities, exchange information and ideas, and promote an interest in Shaw worldwide. It welcomes anyone with an interest in Shaw to join (see the end of this section for an application form). To encourage the study of Shaw and the performance of his works, the ISS arranges biennial or triennial conferences, annual symposia, and occasional special sessions and seminars around the world at which anyone interested in Shaw can find a gathering of kindred spirits and an occasion to speak on and discuss Shaw and to hear and see his works in performance. Because it particularly wishes to encourage the young, the ISS offers scholarships and travel grants to young people who wish to contribute to its goals.

Report on June 30, 2009, by R. F. Dietrich

President of the International Shaw Society

ISS Homepage: www.shawsociety.org

Email: dietrich@shawsociety.org

ISS Council

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE	ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Richard F. Dietrich, President Leonard Conolly, Vice President Lagretta Lenker, Treasurer John McInerney, Recording Secretary Lori Dietrich, Membership Secretary	Charles Berst John Bertolini Charles A. Carpenter Bernard Dukore Anthony Gibbs Nicholas Grene Denis Johnston Martin Meisel Margot Peters Sally Peters Michel Pharand Ann Saddlemyer Al Turco Stanley Weintraub Don Wilmeth	Honorary Members Sidney Albert Jacques Barzun Eric Bentley Sir Michael Holroyd Stanley Kaufmann Rhoda Nathan Barbara Smoker

In Memoriam

The ISS was again hit hard this year by the deaths of two of its preeminent members, Frederick P. W. McDowell and Susan Hussey. Frederick, well known in Shaw Studies, had just been added to the list above of "Honorary Members" when news came of his demise. Susan Hussey (with her husband Aubrey Hampton) was a patron of the arts in general and generously contributed to the establishment of the ISS. They are greatly missed.

ISS Events & Actions of 2009

MLA MEETINGS: To qualify for affiliate status with the Modern Language Association, which would give the ISS a lot of free advertising if accomplished and might help to spur interest in Shaw in academia, the ISS has begun sponsoring sessions at MLA annual conventions, beginning in December of 2006 at Philadelphia and continuing in December of 2008 in San Francisco. These sessions have been arranged and are moderated by Charles Del Dotto of Duke University. There will be a session at the 2010 convention in Los Angeles. See the ISS Homepage at www.shawsociety.org for a link that will announce the exact date and place, when that becomes available. You can attend these sessions without being an MLA member, but you must be an MLA member to be eligible to participate in the panel.

THE 33rd ANNUAL COMPARATIVE DRAMA CONFERENCE in March of 2009 sponsored by Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles offered three special sessions on "Shaw and Music," "Shaw and Cultural Contexts," and "Studies in Individual Plays." As arranged by Tony Stafford of the University of Texas El Paso, scheduled papers were by Christopher Innes of York University, Brigitte Bogar of Copenhagen University, Ellen Dolgin of Dominican College, Roger Cottrell of Kidderminster College, Barbara Pfeifer of the University of Vienna, and Tony Stafford.

THE SIXTH ANNUAL SUMMER SHAW SYMPOSIUM, co-sponsored by and meeting at the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, took place on July 24–26, 2009. Our thanks to Suzanne Merriman of the Shaw Festival and Leonard Conolly, the academic coordinator for the Symposium, for their invaluable assistance in setting this up. Beginning with a keynote address by Stanley Weintraub, Evan Pugh Emeritus Professor of Arts and Humanities, Pennsylvania State University, the scheduled speakers, in order of appearance, speaking mainly on the Shaw plays produced by the Shaw Festival, The Devil’s Disciple and "In Good King Charles’s Golden Days," were Al Lyons, Christopher Gray, Rodelle Weintraub, Brad Kent, John McInerney, Neil Hultgren, Robert Gaines, Tom Wilmeth, Miriam Chirico, and Larry Switzky. Presentations on special topics were...