Saturday 3 February 2007

Planning a conference is really great fun, I sure do recommend it

If only we can persuade a famous person to give our keynote address about Jane Austen and Comedy, the whole thing will suddenly become much much easier. We'll get a bigger and better range of papers to choose from; invitied guests who are umming and aahing will make up their minds one way or another; and the university will presumably be more likely to cough up a few extra dollops of cash.

I have this wishlist and am ploughing through it at rather an alarming rate. A lot of people have already said no. Those left on the list include Bindi Irwin, Jennifer Aniston ("Why I hate Brad, those nose job rumours, and Jane Austen") Sam Newman, Kyle Sandilands etc. Right at the bottom is Dan Brown.

If anyone reading this happens to be interested in Jane Austen, to have a sense of humour, and, most importantly, to be some type of public intellectual, and you are keen to have a nice paid-for jaunt to Melbourne in November, send me an email!

22 comments:

Ariel said...

Yes, yes and then sadly no. (And then live here already, of course.) I'm curious to see who you'll find to fit the bill. Sure there are plenty of them out there ...

Oh, and tried to comment on your landlord's 'standard gardening' request about the dead tree removal but Blogger wouldn't let me. No, not standard at all, surely! Hope you don't end up having to pay for that.

lucy tartan said...

Ariel, do you do impressions? Maybe, if the lecture hall lights were dimmed and enough rubbish common-room grade sherry was handed around before, we could pass you off as J.K. Rowling, or Lily Allen or someone.

Ampersand Duck said...

Write to Emma Thompson. I bet she'd do it for a laff.

Zoe said...

Have you asked Helen Fielding? She's done the cover quote for that edition of S&S I mentioned at Pavlov's Cat: "Jane Austen is one of my favourite writers"

Also consider Kathy Lette, who did the cover quote for Emma - "Jane Austen is a literary goddess". As opposed to, say, an ancient African goddess. If you get Kathy Lette we should arrange to have her kidnapped or something socially useful like that.

Kerryn Goldsworthy said...

Never mind Kathy Lette, why don't you get her husband to do a Jane Austen Hypothetical?

lucy tartan said...

Funnily enough, two of the three people you've suggested have already been asked.

Keep the ideas coming, or the puppy gets it.

Anonymous said...

Warney?

Mindy said...

Bec Hewitt could write some poetry specially for the event!

Ariel said...

Um, no. Sorry. Particularly not anyone who can sing ...

Kate Winslet? Gwyneth Paltrow (and we could arrange to have HER kidnapped)? Frances O'Connor?

Not very helpful or original, I know.

Kerryn Goldsworthy said...

Cate Blanchett? She presented the 2004 Miles Franklin award and was fabulous -- she is very smart.

I also think Warney would be much better than Sam Newman.

Kerryn Goldsworthy said...

Or David Marr. Funny, smart, crowd-pleaser, likes reading fiction (though I'm not sure about Jane Austen), etc.

Anonymous said...

Akshally, PavCat is a v good public speaker (she doesn't appear to use notes) and she scored 'Elinor Dashwood' on the Jane Austen heroine test, which is a sign of intellectualism after all.

Ampersand Duck said...

Ooh, yes, I vote for Pav.

Anything to save puppies.

If you can get Kathy Lette kidnapped, can we also arrange for her to be bumped off at the same time?

Kerryn Goldsworthy said...

No, no, someone with a bit of glamour.

I don't believe that Laura would really hurt a puppy. It's a bluff.

(Basil might, though.)

Anonymous said...

You have sparkly earrings!

Kerryn Goldsworthy said...

Heh. I wonder if a copy of the Postgrads' Guide to Conference Paper Giving survives anywhere. (Said Guide is what El is referring to -- in it, I recommended sparkly earrings, to stir up the air and throw a bit of light around one's head -- and as for the girls ...)

Anonymous said...

Oh, but I've heard that that Pav Cat isn't very good.

heh

lucy tartan said...

Yes wasn't that a charming little drive-by from Mr Lewin-Hill.

Zoe said...

Indeed. He's obviously not terribly perceptive, or he would have noticed what a complete turd that comment showed him to be.

Kerryn Goldsworthy said...

My silent revenge is that I don't remember him. Obviously it's just as well.

But I hope youse all appreciate my howling restraint in not engaging with that weirdness -- not even to post this link to a commenter with much better taste in lectures.

Anonymous said...

The guide does still exist -- prob somewhere in my filing cabinet after being on the wall of the Antithesis room for years.

If I find it, I'll scan it into my blog, but no promises, as I'm pretty busy at the moment.

Zoe said...

Hey, what about Gurinder Chadha? I reckon she'd be interesting and fun.