June 2009
OMAR KHAYYAM, EDWARD FITZGERALD AND THE RUBAIYAT Conference July 9 - 10th 2009 Trinity College, University of Cambridge Cambridge, CB2 1TQ “And, strange to tell, among that earthen Lot Some could articulate, while others not: And suddenly one more impatient cried - ‘Who is the Potter, pray, and who the pot?”

Organised by

The Persian Department of the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies of the University of Cambridge in collaboration with the Faculty of English and the Victorian Study Group at Cambridge University and the Persian Department at the University of Leyden (the Netherlands), in association with Iran Heritage Foundation.

Convened by

Prof. Charles Melville
Dr. Christine van Ruymbeke

Introduction

2009 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Edward FitzGerald (1809) and the 150th anniversary of the first publication of his famous The Rubaiyat (1859). A former Cambridge student (Trinity 1826-30), FitzGerald made an extraordinary contribution to world literature with The Rubaiyat, rather loosely based on the verses attributed to the eleventh-century Persian poet, mathematician and astronomer, Omar Khayyam. The book has become perhaps the most widely known poem in the world, republished virtually every year from 1879 (the year of FitzGerald's fourth edition) to the present day, and translated into some eighty different languages.

The conference will examine the life and works of Edward FitzGerald, with particular emphasis on The Rubaiyat, and other European translations of Khayyam's rubaiyat, on their impact on European literature and 'Orientalism', on the publication history of the translations and the illustrations of the quatrains. The programme will include a key-note speaker and presentations by academics of international standing, concerned with both English and Persian literature.

Programme

Click here for Conference Programme

Abstracts

Click here for abstracts of the papers that will be presented

Biographies

Click here for biographies of the speakers

Registration

Click here for Conference Registration Form
£25 for two days, lunch excluded
£15 per day, lunch excluded

Enquiries

Dr. Christine van Ruymbeke
Soudavar Lecturer in Persian
Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies
UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
Sidgwick Avenue, Cambridge CB3 9DA U.K.

Tel: +44 (0)1223 335130
Fax: +44 (0)1223 335110
Secretary's tel: +44 (0)1223 335106

Email: cv223@cam.ac.uk

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