2019 Conference Program

Robinson Jeffers Association 2019 Conference
“Jeffers’s Inevitable Place”
Carmel Woman’s Club
9th Avenue and San Carlos, Carmel California

Friday, February 15
5:30 – 7:30 PM
Reception at Tor House
(Wine and Finger-Food)
Readings from Robinson Jeffers by Lindsay Jeffers

Saturday, February 16

8:30 AM
Coffee, refreshments

8:45 AM
Opening Remarks, Robert Kafka, President RJA

9:00 AM
Panel 1: Moderator, Jim Baird, University of North Texas
Richard Drake, University of Montana:
“The Uses of History in the Anti-War Writing of Robinson Jeffers and Ezra Pound, 1939 – 1948”
Hadas Marcus, Tel Aviv University, Israel:
“‘Oh Lovely Rock’: Place Attachment and Stone in Jeffers, Lawrence, and Neruda”

10:15 AM
Panel 2: Moderator, James Karman, California State University Chico
Mick McAllister, Independent Scholar:
“Roan Stallion”: Jeffers’s Foundational Text
Brett Colasacco, University of Chicago:
“Varieties of Sacred Place: Jeffers Between Eliade and J Z Smith”

11:30 AM
Lunch
Option: On your own, or cold cut or veggie sandwich at $10/each

1:00 PM
Special Presentation: Eliot Ruchowitz-Roberts, long-time Tor House tour docent, Vice President of the Tor House Foundation board, and Coordinator of the annual Robinson Jeffers Tor House Prize for Poetry:
“‘ . . . the house beats like a heart’: Tor House from a Tour Docent’s Perspective”

1:45 PM
Panel 3: Moderator: Brett Colasacco, University of Chicago
James Karman, California State University, Chico:
“Harmful Presences: Tor House as a Charm Against the Dark”
Steven Reese, Youngstown State University:
“Harder than Granite”

3:15 PM — 4:45 PM
Panel and Discussion: Tim Hunt (leader), Jim Karman, Brett Colasacco:
“Whither RJA?”
A panel followed by open discussion including, but not limited to:
Frequency of conferences — Annual? Biannual?
Goals for JS and how to strengthen it
Revisit outreach/collaboration with other organisations (ALA, WLA, etc.)
RJA & THF missions: how do they complement / supplement / duplicate each other. Is RJA’s mission scholarly, has that changed since it was originally formed, should it change in the future (and if so in what ways and to what purpose?).

4:45 PM
Adjourn

Sunday, February 17

8:30 AM
Coffee, refreshments

9:00 AM
RJA Business Meeting

9:30 AM
Panel 4: Moderator, Robert Zaller, Drexel University
Tim Hunt, Illinois State University:
“‘Walls on a rock above the sea’: Tor House as Place and Figure in the 1919 Poetry of Robinson Jeffers”
Deborah Fleming, Ashland University:
“Robinson Jeffers, ‘The Last Conservative’”

10:45 AM
Panel 5: Moderator, Rob Kafka, President, RJA
Robert Zaller, Drexel University:
“The Poet in Mourning: Robinson Jeffers after Una Jeffers”
Aaron Yoshinobu, Texas Tech University:
“Building and Outcrop: Tor House at 100 Years”

12:00 PM
Adjourn