Announcements

87 THE EDITOR'S FENCE 1. MLA Division Meetings« San Francisco, 1979« Despite unfavorable meeting times (9«00 p.m. and 8«30 a.m.), the two programs of the Division on Late 19th- and Early 20th-century English Literature went very well, the morning session being particularly well attended. The papers in both programs, we were told, were lively and challenging. 2. MLA Division Meetings» Houston, 1980» Again two programs are planned, tentatively and broadly as follows« (a) A Centenary Look at 1880. Enquiries and suggestions should be directed to Professor Stanley Weintraub, The Pennsylvania State University. (b) Foreign Influences on English Literature« 1880-1920. Enquiries and suggestions should be directed to Professor Albert Guerard, Stanford University. 3· Division Executive Committee. 1980» Albert Guerard (Stanford) will be chairperson; Stanley Weintraub (Pennsylvania State) will be secretary; and other members, in order of seniority, will be H. E. Gerber (Arizona State University), Charles Altieri (Ur^vArsitv of Washington), and Avrom Fleishman (Johns Hopkins). The candidates nominated for election to replace H. E. Gerber in 1981 will be announced in the MLA Division Newsletter. k. A Personal Note» Many friends, having noted my gradual withdrawal from participation in some MLA activities, have misinterpreted my motives. This is, in that unhappy phraseology, "to set the record straight." I am not retiring. I am not in ill health. My energies have not markedly declined. ELT will continue to be published and I shall continue to edit the journal. I shall continue to serve as General Editor of the ASB Series as long as it survives. I intend to make more time to devote to teaching, research, and writing . I look to the new year with renewed energy and enthusiasm because I will have more time to do the things I most enjoy doing. ANNOUNCEMENTS 1. VP Hardy Issue« Frank R. Giordano, Jr., serving as Special Editor of a double number of Victorian Poetry (XVII» 1 and 2 /SpringSummer 19727 has overseen a supero celebration of Hardy's poetic output fifty years after the poet's death. There are excellent articles by I. A. Richards, Trevor Johnson, Richard Benvenuto, Peter Simpson, Ian Ousby, Kathryn R. King and William W. Morgan, Frank Giordano, William E. Buckler, Harold Orel, and Keith Wilson - a goodly company, indeed. The double issue of VP is given special value by the inclusion of poems honoring Hardy, of Hardy's illustrations for Wessex Poems , and reproductions of Augustus John's portrait and William Strang's drawing. It is a handsome production, for which we congratulate Frank Giordano, the VP staff, and West Virginia University. 2. Subscription Rates for 1981« I call attention to an insert in ELT, 23i 1 (1980) and the notice on the staff page of all issues for this year announcing an increase our rates effective for I98I subscriptions. Since we pay as we go, we must outguess the postal service and the paper manufacturers by at least one year. I appreciate the cooperation of individual and institutional subscribers for their prompt pre-paid renewals. Such cooperation has made it possible for this independent, self-supporting, and non-profitmaking journal to enter its twenty-third year. 3. The Eighteen Nineties Society Publications« ELT does not accept paid advertising. It does encourage subscribers to support other journals that serve our profession and especially students of the ELT period well. It also urges subscribers to support innovative small publishing enterprises that reprint titles and publish new works likely to have too modest sales to interest commercial and some large university presses. Among such unusual publication ventures are the titles published by The Eighteen Nineties Society of London, under the direction of its chief driving force, Dr. G. Krishnamurti. The prospectuses inserted in this issue of ELT should interest all our subscribers. The Chemeleon , for example, has been handsomely reprinted. This scarce title is thus readily available. It should be in any library with an even quite modest collection of 1880-1920 titles. k. Academy Chicago. Ltd» This small publishing firm, owned and managed by Jordan and Anita Miller, is keeping a growing number of I88O-I920 titles in print. The second printing of the first edition of George Moore's Esther...