Conference to Focus on Founder of Religious Fantasy

Scholars from through out the world will celebrate the life and works of George MacDonald, the founder of religious fantasy, at a four-day conference presented by Baylor University's Armstrong Browning Library. "George MacDonald and His Children: the Development of Fantasy Literature" will take place Friday through Monday, Sept. 16-19.
MacDonald was the founder of religious fantasy, and his writing greatly influenced C.S. Lewis, author of The Chronicles of Narnia, and possibly J.R.R. Tolkien and J.K. Rowling.
Dr. Stephen Prickett, director of the library, will welcome conference guests at 3:30 p.m. in the library's Hankamer Treasure Room, followed by Dr. David Robb, who will speak on the importance of MacDonald's Scottish sources. Robb is head of the English department at the University of Dundee in Scotland. Dr. Colin Manlove, full-time writer and former professor at the University of Edinburgh, will discuss MacDonald's German sources at 5:15 p.m.
Other featured speakers include Dr. Susan Ang, assistant professor of English literature at the National University of Singapore; Professor Julia Briggs, professor of English literature and women's studies at De Montfort University in England; John Docherty of the George MacDonald Society; Dr. Roderick McGillis, professor of English at the University of Calgary; Dr. David Neuhouser, professor of mathematics at Taylor University in Indiana; Dr. John Pennington, associate professor of English at St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wis.; and Robert Trexler of Amherst, Mass., editor of The Bulletin of the New York C.S. Lewis Society.
The conference also will include panel discussions, a slide show and commentary, a movie on the life and works of C.S. Lewis and a dinner at the Waco Hilton.
The conference fee is $100. Baylor faculty and staff and all local college students will be admitted free with their ID cards. Conference registration will begin at 2 p.m. at the Martin entrance of the Browning Library.
For a complete program schedule and speakers' topics, see the web page, http://www.browninglibrary.org/gmcd, or contact Kathleen Miller at (254) 710-4968 or Kathleen_Miller@baylor.edu.