Announcements

Transforming Henry James

This special issue of the Henry James Review publishes papers presented at the Henry James Society's 2011 International Conference, "Transforming Henry James," held in Rome at John Cabot University, July 7-10. The very different talks that comprise this issue together convey a sense of the rich and varied conversations that took place at the Rome conference, transforming our understandings of James and his work. Transforming, but not fixing—opening paths for further discussion and discovery. This was the fifth international conference held by the James Society. We are already looking forward to the sixth, to be held in Summer 2014 in Aberdeen, Scotland.

Acknowledgments

In addition to the members of the Advisory Board, Jonathan Freedman, David Kurnick, Susan Ryan, and Robyn Warhol have reviewed submissions for HJR in 2011-12, giving generously of their time and expertise. We express our sincere thanks to them for their contribution.

Reading James

Who reads James? When? Where? How? Why? What did James want from his readers? How did he read his own writings and those of others? New work on the history, sociology, culture, psychology, even the biology of reading has made these questions fresh. This special issue of the Henry James Review invites contributions on all aspects of Jamesian reading.

Reading James can be, quite literally, materially different, depending upon whether the reader encounters the text in serial form, as volume from a circulating library, on loan from another reader, as part of the New York Edition, in a fine binding or a Norton anthology, or on a website. And readers of James are various: writers, critics, theorists; philosophers, art historians, historians. How do disciplinary needs, methodologies, and assumptions shape such readers? Then, too, adaptation, quotation, and translation can all be viewed as forms of reading. What commercial considerations, practicalities, and formal requirements come into play? What does it mean to read James in Tehran, in Beijing, in Paris, in London? What about those times when James is (nearly) unread? Which James works have been popular? Which neglected? What gets reprinted? When? Why?

Readers are, of course, shaped by James. His criticism gives us theories of reading. James depicts readers in his fiction, even as he manipulates those who read him. His metaphors can be alarming—he speaks of catching readers and drugging them—and alluring: invitations to dream together. For James, "The work is divided between the writer and the reader"; both were parts he played avidly.

One-page proposals or short (10-12 pages) essays should be sent to hjamesr@louisville.edu. Please include in the text of the email the author's name, mailing address, and the title of the article and note that it is a submission for the Reading James Forum. Please use current MLA style and include any endnotes, works cited, and an abstract of 100 or fewer words.

Deadline: March 1, 2013