British Shakespeare Association Conference hosted by the University of Liverpool

The Department of English hosted the prestigious British Shakespeare Association conference last week (25^th to 28^th July).

The conference saw almost 200 academics, teachers and theatre practitioners converge to discuss the theme ‘Re-locating Shakespeare,’ exploring the geographical, temporal and theatrical re-locations of his work.

Dr Esme Miskimmin and Dr Katie Knowles organised the conference with Professor Elspeth Graham from Liverpool John Moores University, curating an event which showcased the diversity of current research and practice in response to Shakespeare.

As well as attending a wide variety of panels and roundtables delivered by international academics, teachers, and theatre practitioners, delegates visited the Shakespeare North Playhouse in Prescot for a plenary roundtable on reconstructed theatres as well as a fantastic performance by Imaginarium Theatre, a Prescot-based community arts organisation.

The vibrant DESIblitz Punjabi Truck Art Bus also paid a visit to campus as part of the conference, displaying South Asian material from the Birmingham Shakespeare collection, alongside a screening of the documentary, ‘The Influence of Shakespeare on Bollywood’.

Dr Esme Miskimmin and Dr Katie Knowles, said: “It was a real pleasure to host the British Shakespeare Association conference in Liverpool this year, which marks the 400^th anniversary of the publication of the First Folio, and offer a programme of events that showcased the variety of forward-looking work being done to sustain the relevance of Shakespeare Studies going into the future.

“We’d like to thank everyone who contributed to making the conference such a fantastic event.”