"Confluence" conference

[Anne F. Nothof]

Colleagues --

Athabasca University and Faculte St. Jean are co-hosting a conference on
cultural crossovers between Alberta and Quebec, to take place from May
22-24, 2000 in the theatre at Cite Francophone, Edmonton, Alberta. A
highlight of the conference will be a panel on the exchange of two
plays: "Some Assembly Required" by Eugene Stickland and translated by
Rene Gingras will be produced as "Noel de Force" by Compagnie Jean
Duceppe in Montreal in November.
"15 Seconds" by Francois Archambeault, translated by Bobby Theodore, is
currently in production at Alberta Theatre Projects in Calgary.
The playwrights, translators, and the ATP dramaturge involved with the
project, Vanessa Porteous, will discuss the translation process: the
"untranslatable" cultural differences; how a play specifically set in
contemporary politicized Montreal could make the jump into Anglophone
Alberta; and the reception of the Anglo play in Montreal.

A "Call for Papers" is now in circulation:  Possible topics and areas of
exploration include:
localized culture and communities
writing from a specific space and place
translation -- the works, the reception, the theories
crossovers of Francophone and Anglophone theatre
cultural diversity in Quebec and Alberta
strategies for crossovers and sharing.

Papers should not exceed 20 minutes.  Please send abstracts of 200 words
in English or French by February 1 to:
Anne Nothof
Chair, Centre for Language and Literature
Athabasca University
1 University Drive
Athabasca AB T9S 3A3
annen at athabascau.ca

For more information, please contact Anne or:
Renate Peters
Associate Professor, French
Athabasca University
renatep at athabascau.ca