13th Annual SHARP Conference Hosted by Dalhousie

July 26, 2005

The 13th international conference of the Society for the History of Authorship, Reading and Publishing (SHARP) was hosted at Dalhousie University from 14 to 17 July.  With over 250 delegates from 11 countries, the SHARP conference consisted of numerous sessions and panels on varying topics of authorship, reading, and publishing. Over 150 papers were presented in the Marion McCain Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences building.

 
L to R: George Elliott Clarke, Roch Carrier, James Carley
The conference highlighted three notable keynote speakers. Dr. Roch Carrier, French-Canadian scholar, author, and recent National Librarian of Canada, opened the conference with an address entitled "Swimming in Texts and Contexts". Dr. George Elliott Clarke, leading African-Canadian poet, dramatist, and university professor read from his recent work. To round out the conference, Dr. James Carley, Distinguished Research Professor at York University, gave an illustrated lecture entitled "Out of deadly darkenesse to lyvelye lyght’: the Dissolution of the English Monasteries and the Formation of a National Library".

The conference was co-chaired by Dr. Bertrum MacDonald, Associate Dean (Research) in the Faculty of Management, and Dr. Mary Lu MacDonald, an independent scholar. The hard work and dedication from these two individuals, an Organizing Committee comprising representatives from Maritime universities, and an excellent team of students insured a smoothly run and stimulating conference.

Patrick Leary, the moderator of the SHARP-L Listserv, wrote after the conference, "Halifax was beautiful (and sunny!), Dalhousie University was comfortable and welcoming, and the conference itself was splendidly well organized, successfully packing dozens of thought-provoking and entertaining presentations into the space of a few days without ever leaving one feeling rushed or overwhelmed."

The delegates of the SHARP conference were treated to a reception on campus hosted by Dalhousie and a reception at Province House hosted by Library and Archives Canada and University of Toronto Press.

Canada’s first printed item, the Halifax Gazette of 23 March 1752, was brought from Ottawa by Library and Archives Canada for display in the Legislative Library at Province House during the conference.

Sponsors of the conference:

Dalhousie University
Dalhousie University, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Dalhousie University, Faculty of Management
Dalhousie University, University Libraries
Dalhousie University, School of Information Management
University of New Brunswick, School of Graduate Studies and University Libraries
History of the Book in Canada/ Histoire du livre et de l’imprime au Canada
University of King’s College
Library and Archives Canada/Bibliotheque et Archives Canada
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
Acadia University
Saint Mary’s University
Mount Saint Vincent University
Dalhousie University Book Store
University of Toronto Press Inc.

For more information about the 13th international conference, visit www.dal.ca/sharp2005

For more information about the SHARP organization, visit www.sharpweb.org