Word Houses: Dictionaries, Archives, Libraries and Beyond

Writing both orders and questions the order of things. Words shape our realities yet their definition alters, sometimes unexpectedly, over time; grammars structure our idea of what is possible, through use as much as through creative misuse; collections consolidate and reshuffle memory as they gather their texts.

So how do encyclopaedias and archives, grammars and dictionaries, anthologies and libraries shape our words and our worlds? At a time when texts are spawned and stowed in virtually limitless variations, how does the way we house our words matter?

Programme and Speakers

14.15 – 15.15
Panel 1: Books 
From early modern language learning guides to tattooed texts and 20^th century artist books.

• Alexander Samson - Reader in Early Modern Studies, UCL
• Richard Price - Head of Contemporary British Collections, British Library
• Nicholas Royle - Author and Reader in Creative Writing, Manchester Metropolitan University
• Uta Staiger (chair) - Executive Director, UCL European Institute

Break

15.45 – 16.45
Panel 2: Archives & collections
From housing untold stories to finding Henry James and learning matters digital.

• Arike Oke - Managing Director, Black Cultural Archives
• Rachel Foss - Head of Contemporary Archives & Manuscripts, British Library
• Philip Horne - Professor of English, UCL
• Joan Winterkorn (chair) - Archivist and consultant specialising in the archives of leading writers, artists and scientists

Break

17.15 – 18.15
Panel 3: Grammars & Dictionaries
From the peculiarities of words to the particularity of accents and how to write a dictionary

• Tony Thorne - Visiting Consultant, King's College London
• Maria Rosa Lloret, Professor of Catalan Philology, University of Barcelona
• Jonnie Robinson, Lead Curator, Spoken English, British Library 
• Geraldine Horan (chair) - Senior Lecturer, Linguist and Germanist, UCL

Drinks reception

19.00 – 20.30 
Libraries and Writing: A Conversation

• Alberto Manguel - Writer and Director of the National Library of Argentina
• Ruth Padel - Poet and writer
• John Mullan - Lord Northcliffe Chair of Modern English Literature, UCL
• Boyd Tonkin (chair) - Author, Journalist and Critic

Info

*Tickets cost between £16 and £20 but are free for UCL staff and students. Use booking code: 'UCL10June' for free entry. Code works from 9 March.

For further information, please contact u.staiger@ucl.ac.uk

Co-organised by the British Library and the UCL European Institute