Holding/Held by the Book

Sheppard Room, University of Leeds, 1 July 2016

Keynote speaker: Sheena Calvert (University of the Arts)

This one-day symposium considers what it means to hold a book as well as the continuing hold the book has upon its readers. Books come in many shapes and sizes, yet reading, as a process, often makes the book itself disappear. ‘Holding / Held By the Book’ recognizes the material dimensions of book culture, but places these in dialogue with the idea of the book more broadly. The book has been many things over its long life and, with the emergence of the ebook, is changing once again. This symposium explores how the form of the book structures its status as privileged cultural object: what happens to the status of the book, it asks, at a time when the book is taking on new forms?

Holding / Held By the Book is organized by the Centre for the Comparative History of Print (Centre CHoP) at the University of Leeds as part of the Cultures of the Book project. It investigates the way the long and diverse history of the book intersects with the book’s continuing allure. We invite proposals for 20 minute talks and presentations that address the symposium theme. Papers might consider the following:

Holding the Book: design and book arts; production, distribution and consumption.

Holdings of Books: libraries; archives; bibliophilia, antiquarian books, and collecting.

Holding on to the Book: book preservation; technologies of the book; remediation.

Beholden to the Book: the allure of books; book culture; the status of books and reading.

The Book as Hold: as repository: of ideas, knowledge, value; threat, danger, immanence.

Send proposals (no more than 400 words) to CentreCHoP@gmail.com by the 31 March 2016

Registration will open in May. There will be a small registration fee to cover catering.