My weekend was taken up by the Lesbian Lives Conference XVIII which ran from Friday 19th to Saturday 20th. People came from all over the world to speak and share their experiences.
Friday morning began with the writer being late and rushing into the nearest session facilitated by Malia (Mary) L McCarrick and happened to be a writing workshop (ah!) based on the topic of identity. The morning structured around the Cass Identity Model. From free-style writing, to brain storming to describing the events that made up the stages of identity reconciliation, this session brought with it transformative fun with the added delight of having something to work on later!
The lunch-time session attended consisted of three speakers:
(1) Kym Bird, York University,UK
Thrills, Crises and Climaxes: Melodrama and Lesbianism in Early Canadian Women’s Drama
(2) Chris Roulston, University of Western Ontario, Canada
Interpreting Lesbian Desire in the Codrington Divorce Trial of 1864
This was an interesting investigation into the world of the court systems where lesbian relationships have rarely been given the coverage:
(3) Temma Berg, Gettysburg College, USA
An Im/Modest Proposal: Anne Lister, Emily Brontë and the Writing of Shirley
A joyous traipse through the potential lesbian identities of women connected with the Brontë sisters. Just when one thought it was the end of a thought… the speaker went forward into another tract pulling from the text more codes, more information and more possibilities than imagined! This is another book for the ‘Will Read’ list.
The evening session was about Young Lesbian Lives:
(1) Petruta Tatulescu, Ruprecht-Karls-University, Germany
Lesbian Lives at Boarding Schools
As a former inmate of a boarding school the writer was intrigued by this topic and what would come of this subject. The paper was a comparison of two films, Mädchen in Uniform und Loving Annabelle. Unfortunately time ran out and the speaker did not get to finish her paper.
(2) Leslie Sherlock, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
To Inclusively and Beyond! : A Sweden/Ireland Dialogue on LGBT Inclusion in Sex/uality Education
This was a very important presentation for this writer given the nature of the topic, the scope of the work and the interesting process of comparisons of the two countries in terms of sexuality information and education.
(3) Anne Rudolph, Linkoping University, Sweden
‘Can Lesbians Get Sexually Transmitted Infections’?; Unpacking the Question
Sex! Finally there was something ’sticky’ said on this topic. Anne’s presentation was brilliant: informative and inspiring covering a topic which is not talked about enough.
Evening: Keynote Special
Emma Donoghue
The room was packed, there to listen to Emma speak about her news book: Inseparable: Desire between Women in Literature. The journey was hhilarious, a tour through the dodgy lesbian literature of the centuries. She is a fantastic speaker: entertaining, funny and eloquent as she brought us through the ideas of the book. Another one for the list!
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