110609_borgestrue1334586686108acckfpborges, jorge luis borges, cervantes, latin america, hispanic, poetry, conference, cultural centerHofstra University Cultural Center Bilingual Conference on Jorge Luis Borges, Argentinian Writer, Philospher and Poet, to Attract International Scholarly Participation/Hofstra_Main_Site/Home/News/PressReleases/Archive/110609_borgesprpgse1257540302544prpgse1257540302668Press Release Sub TitleNovember 13 and 14, 2009Press Release TitleHofstra University Cultural Center Bilingual Conference on Jorge Luis Borges, Argentinian Writer, Philospher and Poet, to Attract International Scholarly ParticipationPress Release Date2009/11/06Ginny GreenbergUniversity Relations202 Hofstra Hall(516) 463-6819(516) 463-5146prpgse@hofstra.edu//Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY: Argentinian writer, poet and philosopher, Jorge Luis Borges, is the subject of a bilingual Hofstra Cultural Center conference, Borges and Us: Then and Always, November 13 and 14, 2009 – commemorating the 110th anniversary of his birth. Borges’ most well known works includes Ficciones, Labyrinths, The Book of Sand, The Zahir, Dreamtigers, The Book of Imaginary Beings and Six Problems for Don Isidro Parodi.

Borges is considered the father of the revolution that took place in Latin American fiction during the 1950s and 1960s. Scholars have called him “the most important figure in Spanish-language literature since Cervantes.” Borges was best known for his short stories but also wrote volumes of poetry and essays. In 1961 he shared the Formentor International Publishers Prize with Samuel Beckett; in 1971 he received the Jerusalem Prize; and in 1980 the king of Spain presented him with the Cervantes Prize, the country’s most prestigious honor.

The conference director is Dr. Nora de Marval-McNair, professor of Spanish in Hofstra’s Department of Romance Languages and Literatures. Borges and Us participants include scholars from across the United States and from all over the world, including Columbia, France, Israel, Italy, Turkey and the United Kingdom.

The conference will include a number of special events and presentations. Among them:

•    A special address titled “A More Complex Reality: A Close Look at Some of Borges’ Manuscripts,”
by Daniel Balderson, director of the Borges Center and editor of Variaciones Borges at the University of Pittsburgh.

•    A November 13 Argentinian banquet followed by a performance titled Yellow Labyrinths: The Many Worlds of Borges. Conceived and starring Bob Spiotto, this performance showcases many of Borges’ works.

•    A keynote address by Suzanne Jill Levine titled “Borges and Us: The Reader as Writer.” Dr. Levine is professor of Latin American and Comparative Literature at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and Hofstra’s Joseph G. Astman Distinguished Conference Scholar.

•    A special address, “Escribiendo para el ‘otro’ Borges,” by Jose Luis Najenson, a writer and poet from Jerusalem, Israel, who will read excerpts from his own short stories, poems and plays, dedicated to Borges. Dr. Najenson is director of the Capítulo de Jerusalén of the Academia Iberomericana de Poesía in Madrid and editor of Revista Literaria Sambatión.

Panel discussions will include such topics as:

•    Borges’ Peerless Narratives: Infinite and Fused
•    Labyrinths Most Foul: Borges, Chesterton and the Detective Genre
•    Don Quixote Reclaimed
•    Borges’ Philosophical Bent
•    The Lyrical Borges
•    Borges, Joyce, Campanella: Stylistic Connections; Reciprocal Links
•    Sobre Gauchos, Compadritos Y Sociedades Secretas
•    Surprising Coincidences, Redemptive Conclusions

Registration for the conference is $60 with discounts for senior citizens (65 and older, must have copy of Medicare card), non-Hofstra students (with current Hofstra ID), and Hofstra PEIR members. The Friday evening Argentinian banquet is priced separately at $45 and the performance of Yellow Labyrinths is $18 per ticket (senior citizen and non-Hofstra student discounts are available).

All conference events, with the exception of the banquet are free to members of the Hofstra community upon presentation of a current HofstraCard.

For additional information please call the Hofstra Cultural Center at (516) 463-5669 or visit hofstra.edu/culture.