Call for Papers: One Day Brunel Centre for Contemporary Writing (BCCW) Symposium

Margaret Thatcher: From Grantham to Downing Street, Narratives of a Path to Power and Beyond
Date: Friday 27th November, 2015
Venue: Antonin Artaud Centre, Brunel University London
Proposal Deadline: 25th October, 2015

13th October 2015 will bring the ninetieth anniversary of the birth of Margaret Thatcher, and hence the decade begins which is the gradual and final approach to her centenary, while 27th November is marking the 25th anniversary of Mrs. Thatcher's last Prime Minister Questions session before resignation. Even in another hundred years she will still be the leader who will always be celebrated as Britain’s first woman Prime Minister. From provincial Grantham, daughter of a Methodist shop owner, Margaret Hilda Roberts became iconic, leaving her indubitable mark on political, social, economic and educational coordinates of Great Britain. Various narratives abound concerning a still controversial figure, in literature, film, history, biography, political memoir and so forth. To mark this landmark the BCCW invites students, researchers, scholars, writers, film-makers, historians, sociologists concerned with ideological narrative, and others from various other disciplines to a one-day symposium to discuss the various narratives concerned with Thatcher, both the public and private figure, and her legacy.

Charles Moore, Thatcher’s official biographer stated she was ‘someone about whom it is almost impossible to be neutral.’ Papers might explore for instance why Ian McEwan claimed in an interview for The Guardian that she ‘mesmerised’ and forced writers and society into ‘a deeper consideration of priorities, sometimes expressed in a variety of dystopias.’
Topics of interest might include, without being limited to:
• Narratives of Thatcher;
• Thatcher and Grantham / Thatcher before Power;
• Margaret Thatcher as a woman politician;
• Thatcherism and feminism;
• Thatcherism and the arts;
• Narratives and Reactions to Thatcher’s death;
• Counter Narratives: Interrogations of and Oppositions to Thatcherism.
Proposals for 20-minute presentations are welcome (or three 20-minute panels). Send to both conference convenors, with ‘Thatcher Symposium in subject line):
Raluca ILIOU (Doctoral Fellow, Brunel University London): Raluca.Iliou@brunel.ac.uk
Prof. Philip TEW (Professor of Post-1900 literature, Brunel University London): philip.tew@brunel.ac.uk
Proposals require title, 100-150 word abstract and affiliation.
Keynote speakers: TBA
Conference fee: TBA (will include lunch/teas/coffee).