Those with a taste for rewarding conversation and exciting scholarship should take note, as should those fond of good bourbon, gorgeous country, and genuine Kentucky fried chicken: The XIV Annual Elizabeth Madox Roberts Conference is set for April 21-23 in Springfield, KY. Academic paper sessions will be held at St. Catharine College, while conference headquarters will be located at the lovely and legendary Beaumont Inn in Harrodsburg.
Miss Roberts is relevant to anybody interested in place, home, and regional identity, as her thoughts on her native state make clear:
A pride in the place where [Kentuckians] were born stays with them when they go, if they must go, and often they return… Kentucky has form and design and outline both in time and space, in history and geography. Perhaps the strongly marked natural bounds which make it a country within itself are the real causes which gave it history and a pride in something which might be named personality.
Those who wish to learn more may read Katherine Dalton’s excellent essay about Roberts’ life and work.
