George Herbert’s Pastoral: Poetry and Priesthood, Past and Future
Sarum College, Salisbury, England, October 4-7, 2007
An International, Interdisciplinary Conference
We are pleased to announce an international and interdisciplinary conference on George Herbert’s pastoral and poetic life in Wiltshire. The conference will meet October 4-7, 2007 at Sarum College in Salisbury, England. The conference features plenary addresses by distinguished British and American scholars Helen Wilcox, University of Wales, Bangor, Cristina Malcolmson of Bates College, and David Jasper of the University of Glasgow.
In his poem “The Country Clergy,” R. S. Thomas wrote, “I see them working in old rectories, / By the sun’s light, by candlelight, / Venerable men . . . their skulls, / Ripening over so many prayers, / Toppled into the same grave / With oafs and yokels. They left no books [. . .].” Needless to say, George Herbert left a book. Though Herbert’s years as a Wiltshire country parson were few (1630-1633), they were fruitful. 
It was at Bemerton that he composed many of the lyrics of The Temple and completed the manuscript, along with that of his pastoral manual The Country Parson, while performing a full round of preaching, visiting, catechizing, and regular lute-playing at Salisbury Cathedral—and while dying of tuberculosis.
The unique setting of our conference will enable us to reflect extensively on the relation between the particular local and human contexts of Herbert’s last years and the themes, images, and tenor of his writing. The main site will be Sarum College, situated in the ancient close of Salisbury Cathedral, two miles from Herbert’s historic St. Andrew’s church and rectory in Bemerton, and four miles from Wilton House, ancestral home to his Pembroke cousins. How did this specific country place, time, and people shape the life and work of this especially lyrical country priest? What can we learn from that life and work about his time and place? And how might we move beyond locality and nostalgia to consider the value of Herbert’s pastoral vision in contemporary church and society? These interdisciplinary questions will be addressed not only by our distinguished plenary speakers, but also in numerous paper sessions on topics ranging from Herbert’s poetic echoes of local landscapes and architecture, to his pastoral treatments of social class and political ferment, to his place in past and present debates about priestly practice and the church of the future.
We invite both paper and full panel proposals from literary scholars, historians, and theologians who seek to discuss Herbert’s “pastoral” from a variety of disciplinary perspectives. We particularly encourage those who wish to propose interdisciplinary panels linked by attention to a common theme, poem, site, or setting. More specifically, we welcome paper and panel proposals on topics such as Herbert’s poetic debt to nearby buildings and landscapes; questions of church politics in the nascent Laudian era, and of Herbert’s relations with John Davenant, Bishop of Salisbury; Herbert’s pastoral treatments of social rank and political dissent; Herbert’s family network, especially that of his Pembroke cousins at Wilton House; and his role as a model for pastoral practice and church revitalization.
Additional conference activities will include a choral performance of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ setting of Herbert in “Five Mystical Songs,” dramatic readings from the poetry of The Temple , walks about Salisbury, and visits to St. Andrew’s Church, Bemerton, and Wilton House.
We invite e-mail submissions. For 15-20-minute papers, send a 250-word titled abstract; for a complete panel, send an overall title and individual 250-word titled abstracts for each paper. Please indicate Salisbury 2007 and include a 1-page CV giving an e-mail and a regular mail address at which you can be reached during the spring and summer of 2007; and indicate any expected audio-visual needs (including special software needs).
Send submissions for Salisbury 2007 to: Tim Macquiban ( admin@sarum.ac.uk ) and Christopher Hodgkins ( HERBCONF@UNCG.EDU )
Due date for submissions: February 23, 2007