The IABS is sad to announce the passing of an esteemed Greek Romanticist, gifted poet and beloved teacher, Dr. Argyros Protopapas (1952-2023).

Argyros was a member of the Messolonghi Byron Society and participated in many international Byron conferences over the years. An astute critic of Shelley, Argyros will be remembered for his erudition, humour, love for philosophy and passion for poetry. 

Dr Argyros Protopapas studied and taught English at the Universities of Athens and Southampton, UK. A published poet and once a candidate physician, Argyros did extensive research on the mutual effect of physical rhythms and mental functions in the process of poetry composition as reflected on Shelley’s poetic language, sponsored by the British Academy and the University of Southampton––initially jointly supported academically by the Royal South Hants Hospital. He published extensively on Shelley’s poetry, while his monograph Percy Bysshe Shelley’s Poetic Science: His Visionary Enterprise and the Crisis of Self-Consciousness (2012) earned critical acclaim. A former graduate of the School of Law and Economics at Aristotle Univ. of Thessaloniki (1978), Argyros also worked for the Vice-Consulate of Greece in Southampton for several years and held national and EU posts in education.  

Prof. Jerome McGann, John Stewart Bryan Professor of English, has won the Elma Dangerfield award for 2023for Byron and the Poetics of Adversity (Cambridge University Press, 2022).

The aim of the prize is to identify and reward new and original work related to the life and works of the poet Lord Byron. It is awarded to the best book (or, exceptionally, books) on Byron or a Byron-related topic published in any given year, according to the judgement of an Evaluation Committee appointed by the Joint Presidents of the IABS.

The Elma Dangerfield Prize committee in 2023 faced an enjoyably challenging and almost impossible task. Three outstanding books formed the shortlist:

- Jerome McGann, Byron and the Poetics of Adversity (Cambridge University Press, 2022)

- Bernard Beatty, Reading Byron: Poems-Life-Politics (Liverpool University Press, 2022)

- John Owen Havard, Late Romanticism and the End of Politics: Byron, Mary Shelley and the Last Men (Cambridge University Press, 2023).

A lively conversation in which Prof. Bernard Beatty and  Prof. Jerome McGann discuss their new books on Byron.

This is a joint event organized by the London Byron Society and the Byron Society of America.
It is a lively discussion in which Prof. Bernard Beatty and Prof. Jerome McGann discuss with each other and the audience their new books on Byron: Beatty’s Reading Byron and McGann’s Byron and the Poetics of Adversity.
Hosts: Dr. Emily Paterson-Morgan and  Prof. Andrew Stauffer.

Click on 'Read more' to watch the video

This work argues that there are traces of Sufism to be found in British Romanticism. Most scholars of Romanticism have overlooked the impact of Sufism on Romanticism in favour of Christian and neo-Platonic Mysticism, but this work fills in this gap by showing the magnitude of the influence of Sufism on the Romantics without negating the influence of other -isms. What elements of Sufism attracted the attention of the Romantics? And why were the Romantics attracted more to Sufism and Sufi poets than to Christian Mysticism and Mystic poets?

Join us this August in San Francisco for the 47th annual conference!

The conference will take place on August 7th - 11th 2023 at University of San Francisco, California.

We will hear works on Byron and Romantic-era resistance that honors the global diversity of the Romantic age. On the beautiful campus of the University of San Francisco, presenters will give papers on and beyond Byron and his circle and share imaginative ideas for our future.

Roundtables, live readings, and exciting excursions will take place throughout the conference!

Visit the website to learn more: www.iabsconference2023.org