2015 NEWS HIGHLIGHTS Liz Osman Wonderland Week 13
The sudden appearance (and equally abrupt disappearance) of animatronic smoking caterpillars, human-sized rabbits, and conference delegates from around the world gave the College a curiouser and curiouser feel throughout the week. The core of Wonderland Week was the Alice through the Ages conference, organised jointly by Dr Zoe Jaques and Professor Maria Nikolajeva (both Fellows at Homerton in children’s literature). The Conference celebrated the enduring legacy of Carroll, Alice, and Wonderland over the past 150 years, and covered topics as diverse as female agency, Alice and neurodevelopment, and Russian translations of Alice. Plenary Lectures were given by Professor Dame Gillian Beer (University of Cambridge), Professor Jan Susina (University of Illinois) and Dr Kiera Vaclavik (Queen Mary, University of London). Professor Beer explored how to situate Alice’s conversations in Wonderland within a pedagogical context, whilst Professor Susina spoke on comparisons between Lewis Carroll and Walt Disney. Closing the conference, Dr Vaclavik gave a lecture Alice as a fashion icon through her history, both on and off the page. Brian Sibley, the President of the Lewis Carroll Society UK, praised “the diversity of opportunity to explore so many aspects of Alice” and thanked the organisers for “the wonderful opportunity to celebrate Messrs Dodgson, and Carroll, and Tenniel, and their Alice”.
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In late September, Homerton College played host to the UK’s largest celebration of the 150th Anniversary of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. ‘Wonderland Week’ combined the largest academic conference on Alice yet held with a number of other events held around Cambridge.
Professor Dame Gillian Beer gives the Plenary Lecture.
Conference delegates were also treated to a sumptuous banquet in the Victorian Great Hall, with a menu featuring mock “Mock Turtle Soup” as part of a host of Wonderland-inspired dishes. Artist William Stok kindly displayed his Alicethemed murals along the walls of the Great Hall for the Banquet, depicting a range of Wonderland scenes and characters. A packed schedule of events had been built around the Conference. Homerton welcomed the UK’s leading cello octet, Cellophony, to perform a specially commissioned musical version of Alice in Wonderland. Cellophony have gained critical and popular acclaim for their mastery of both the standard cello repertoire, and an eclectic collection of exclusive adaptations. This musical Alice was written by Cellophony founder and director Richard Birchall, seeking inspiration from Schubert, Strauss, and Prokofiev, amongst others. The (necessarily abridged!) story was narrated by the Principal. Venues around Cambridge took part in Wonderland Week, with The Arts Picturehouse cinema showing a double bill of the oldest and newest Alice in Wonderland films. Cecil Hepworth’s
