WINNIPEG, MB – The University of Winnipeg’s Centre for Research in Young People’s Texts and Cultures is sponsoring a day of talks on Anne of Green Gables featuring two lectures Thursday, September 25, 2008. This event is in celebration the 100th anniversary of the classic publication of the novel of the same title by Canadian novelist Lucy Maud Montgomery. This day of lectures complements the exhibit presently on the mezzanine level of the UWinnipeg Library.
The two lectures topics are Anne of Green Gables – A Literary Icon at 100 by Irene Gammel and Pruned Down and Branched Out – Anne of Green Gables and its Afterlives – What does an Anne of Green Gables ashtray look like? by Benjamin Lefebvre.
Irene Gammel is holds the Canada Research Chair in Modern Literature and Culture at Ryerson University. She is also the curator of the Anne of Green Gables Centenary Exhibit currently in Winnipeg. Dr. Gammel will talk about the process of her research for her new book, Looking For Anne: How Lucy Maud Montgomery Dreamed Up a Literary Classic. Both Gammel’s book and exhibition investigate Montgomery’s inspirations for her Anne novels.
Benjamin Lefebvre’s paper looks at the unexpected connections between a popular literary text and scores of adaptations and abridgements, between one redheaded orphan and vast tourism and commodification industries, and between bucolic Avonlea, Prince Edward Island and the pressures of early Hollywood.
Lecture One:
Anne of Green Gables – A Literary Icon at 100
10:00 am – 11:00 am, 3M63, Manitoba Hall
Lecture Two:
Pruned Down and Branched Out – Anne of Green Gables and its Afterlives – What does an Anne of Green Gables ashtray look like?
4:00 pm – 5:15 pm, 4M37, Manitoba Hall
