A Blog of Bosh

The day of Lear’s 200th birthday is approaching and there will be events for all tastes.

But first, registration is now open for the September Edward Lear Conference at Jesus College, Oxford: here you can find the details and register.

Meanwhile, in Cambridge, the Institute of Continuing Education has a week-end course on Nonsense literature, 11-13 May.

Charles Lewsen will be giving an illustrated talk on Lear’s epilepsy in the Conference Centre of the British Library at 1 pm on 11 May.

There will be several events in London on Saturday, 12 May:

• At 11.30 am, a Westminster City Council Green Plaque will be unveiled at 15 Stratford Place, London W.1, the site of the house that was Edward Lear’s London base in the 1860s. Stratford Place is on the north side of Oxford Street, opposite the entrances to Bond Street underground station.
• 1 pm, a few short speeches about Lear and to acknowledge the late Vivien Noakes’ contribution to Lear studies at The Fine Art Society, 148 New Bond Street, London W.1 where, from 10 am to 5 pm works by Lear will be on display, as will books and exhibition catalogues. Download the invitation.
• At 3.30 pm there will be a ceremony in Poets Corner at Westminster Abbey, at which readers will include Roger McGough, President of the Poetry Society. Please go to the Great West Doors of the Abbey (by the bookshop) no later than 3.20 pm and inform the marshals that you are attending the Lear ceremony.

Several zoos around the country will be celebrating too, among them the Knowsley Safari Park (watch the video), ZSL London Zoo, Edinburgh, Newquay, and the Camperdown Wildlife Centre, Dundee.

Also, do not forget that the OED‘s Words of the Day around 12 May will be Lear-related, and that a further event will be held at the British Library on 13 May, 14.30-16.00: guests include Michael Rosen and Roger McGough.

If, like me, you cannot travel to any of these, here is some consolation in the form of two reviews of Houghton Library’s exhibition on Lear’s zoological work: Audubon Magazine, and Nature (restricted).

David Quantick writes on Lear’s influence on later nonsense in The Independent.

Vanessa Remington wrote a paper for the 2010 Victoria & Albert: Art & Love symposium, “Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and their Relations with Artists,” which also mentions Edward Lear. It is available as a pdf file at The Royal Collection website.

Cambridge University’s Institute of Continuing Education is organizing a weekend course on Nonsense literature, covering all aspects from the origins of the nursery rhymes to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, on 11-13 May and the programme looks very interesting. Of course a lecture is devoted to Edward Lear’s life and work. Places are still available and you can download Course Material and an Application Form.

From 30 April to 4 May, at 10.45 pm, BBC Radio 3 will be broadcasting a series of essays celebrating Edward Lear’s bicentenary. The essayists include Sara Lodge, Matthew Bevis and Ralph Steadman, who has drawn a wonderful nonsense bird – the long-lashed, three-booted wheedle-nittle – for the occasion. See comments to this post.

From 7 May to 8 June at The Poetry Café at 22 Betterton Street, Covent Garden WC2H 9BX, 45 illustrators are showing images they have made from Edward Lear’s poetry. For opening times see here or phone 0207-420 9880.

Sunday 13 May 14.30 – 16.00, Nonsense! The Wonderful World of Edward Lear, The Conference Centre, the British Library. The Jumblies, the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bo, The Dong with the Luminous Nose and of course The Owl and The Pussycat, are just a few of the fabulous nonsense poems of the remarkable Edward Lear, who was born 200 years ago. Join wonderfully entertaining poets Michael Rosen and Roger McGough, plus special guests, for this glorious celebration of one of our best loved writers.

Tortoises, Terrapins, and Turtles Drawn from Life by James De Carle Sowerby and Edward Lear. London, Paris and Frankfort: Henry Sotheran, Joseph Baker & Co., 1872 is now available online at the Biodiversity Haritage Library website.