On Miracle Ground XXIII
Writing Port/Cities in the Blue Humanities
July 16-18, 2026 – Vancouver, Canada
“Landscape-tones: steep skylines, low cloud, pearl ground with shadows in oyster
and violet. Accidie.” (Justine 216)
The International Lawrence Durrell Society invites proposals for its July 2026 in-person conference hosted by Fairleigh Dickinson University, Vancouver. While proposals on any aspect of Durrell’s writing and that of his contemporaries are welcome, the organising committee encourages consideration of the theme of the Port/City or the Blue Humanities more generally, including Vancouver literatures.
The conference venue of the coastal, seaport city of Vancouver in British Columbia—the largest port in Canada and the fourth largest in North America—suggests exploration of ports and urban (marine, aquatic) settings in Durrell’s works, addressing the historical, cultural, and social significance of port cities. With Vancouver Port being in the immediate vicinity of the conference and a vital hub of trade between Canada and world economies, the conference will explore how literary cities or communities use the ocean or sea as connections or barriers. Vancouver literatures depict the Pacific Ocean as a passage exploring migration, homelessness, reconciliation, and belonging as well as identity, hybridity, and liminality—all themes across Durrell’s works.
Whether focused on Vancouver or the many port cities in Durrell’s literary works (Alexandria, Athens, London, Istanbul, Rhodes, &c.), the theme of port cities also gestures to recent scholarship on Oceanic Studies, the Blue Humanities, Oceanic Modernisms, and Atlantic Studies. Such approaches are welcomed and encouraged in relation to Durrell’s works, his contemporaries, and Vancouver literature.
Please submit abstracts (300 words maximum) for 20-minute papers and short biographical notes stating affiliation (150 words).
- Proposals received by October 31 will receive formal response by January 10th.
- Proposals will be considered until January 10, with formal response by February 1st.
Submission form
An edited volume of essays featuring selected papers from the conference will be published
with Fairleigh Dickinson University Press.
