See videos with the speakers and panel discussion from the online colloquium 19 April 2024.
The Paul Auster Society
The Paul Auster Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to the global study of the oeuvre of Paul Auster. This articulate multi-form collection of verbal and visual material has enchanted readers and challenged scholars around the world for over four decades, often beyond literary studies. For this reason, the Society approaches Auster’s novels, short stories, non-fiction, poems, films, essays, autobiographical and biographical works and translations as participants in a broader ethics of public engagement and cultural advocacy, which can provoke discussion on important contemporary concerns.
Through annual meetings at the ALA, BAAS, through workshops and seminars, and through its engagement with the Paul Auster Library , the Paul Auster Society encourages communication among scholars and the general public by expanding the possibilities for shared responses to Auster’s work.
Contact
Chair
Aliki Varvogli
Senior Lecturer in English and American literature, University of Dundee, Scotland
a.varvogli@dundee.ac.uk
Co-chair
Inge-Birgitte Siegumfeldt
Associate Professor in Contemporary Anglophone Literature, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
siegum@hum.ku.dk
The Paul Auster society is deeply saddened by the news of his passing. His death is a great loss for American literature and for his millions of devoted readers around the world. Just a few days ago, we hosted a colloquium on the opening lines in Auster's novels. Auster knew about the colloquium, and was very interested in the discussion of first lines. We talked about how endings are also beginnings in Auster's fiction. We talked about how his last novel, Baumgartner, ends with the promise of renewal, with the possibility of an exciting future. It is poignant to recall these discussions now that the author is no longer with us. Above all, our thoughts are with his family and friends at this sad and difficult time. In due course we will respond to the news more fully in order to honour one of the greatest writers of the past half century.
Remembering the great novelist Paul Auster and his electric imagination
14-11-2024
I.B. Siegumfeldt talks about Paul Auster, his work, their friendship and collaboration in the podcast series, Novelist Spotlight, run by Mike Consol.