Norman Mailer Society/Conference/2019 Wilkes-Barre, PA/Program

17th Annual Norman Mailer Conference
Mailer on Politics, Public Life, and Pop Culture
Wilkes University, Wilkes-Barre, PA
October 10-12, 2019

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10th

9:00-10:00

Business Meeting (Breiseth 107)

10:15-11:15

The Politics of American Democracy: Bob Begiebing, “Mailer and the Founders”; Robert Saxe, “‘A Little Better Than They Should Have Been’: Norman Mailer and the Romance of the Kennedys”; Alex Hicks, “Norman Mailer, White Working Class Male and ‘Left Conservatism’”; Moderator: Nicole DePolo (Breiseth 106)

11:30-12:30

Session #1: Mailer in the Public Eye

• Matthew Hinton, “The Pugilist vs. The Publisher: Norman Mailer Takes On”
• Chondell Villines, “Mailer and Celebrity”
• Bill Lowenberg, “Mailer: A Life in Pictures”
• Moderator: Robert Saxe (Breiseth 107)

Session #2: Philosophical Foundations & Political Connections

• Raj Chandarlapaty, “The Hipster”; Alex Hicks, “Mailer’s Marxist Politics”
• Ann von Mehren, “Armies of the Night, Mitch Goodman, and the CPA”
• Moderator: Jerry Lucas (Breiseth 106)

12:30-1:45

Lunch on Your Own

2:00-3:00

Session #1: Mailer and Journalism: Jason Mosser, “Mailer’s Literary Journalism in Context”; Sal Fallica, “In the Red Light: History Biding Its Time”; Victor Peppard, “Mailer and Breslin: Champions of the Little Man and the Outlaw”; Moderator: Phil Sipiora (Breiseth 107)

Session #2: Of a Fire on the Moon After 50 Years: Carol Holmes-Alpern, “Of a Fire on the Moon: A Retrospective”; Walter Lewallen, “That Sinking Feeling”; Moderator: Enid Stubin (Breiseth 106)

3:15-4:15

Current Mailer Projects: Mike Lennon; Jerry Lucas; Susan Mailer; Maggie McKinley (Breiseth 106)

4:30-5:30

Book Reading: Susan Mailer, In Another Place (Breiseth 107). Book Signing to Follow in Weckesser Hall at Opening Reception.

5:45-7:00

Opening Reception (Weckesser Hall), sponsored by Wilkes Maslow Family Creative Writing Program and the University Advancement Office

7:00-8:00

Tour of Mailer Reading Room and Collection and Dedication of Nancy Ellen Craig’s Mailer Portrait (Farley Library, 2nd Floor)

Dinner on your own

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 11th

9:00-10:00

Mailer and McLuhan: Nicole DePolo; Jerry Lucas; Sal Fallica (Breiseth 106)

10:15-11:15

Norman Mailer and the Actor’s Studio: John Buffalo Mailer; Timothy Nolan; Mike Lennon (Breiseth 107)

11:30-12:30

Session #1: Mailer and Violence: Mark Olshaker; Marc Triplett; Maggie McKinley (Breiseth 106)

Session #2: Mailer’s French Connection: Jeanne Fuchs, “Mailer in Translation”; Jason Mosser, “Mailer and Malaquais in Conversation”; Mike Lennon, “Mailer and Stendhal”; Moderator: Victor Peppard (Breiseth 107)

12:30-1:45

Lunch on Your Own; Board Meeting & Lunch in Miller Room, Henry Student Center

2:00-3:00

Session #1: Advertisements and Influences: Enid Stubin, “Advertisements for Myself: Mailer’s Workes”; Ray Vince, “Angst, Authorship, and the Critics: Advertisements, ‘The Snows of Kilimanjaro,’ and ‘The Crack-Up’”; Erik Nakjavani, “Limit Situations: A Recurring Theme in Hemingway’s and Mailer’s Works”; Moderator: Jason Mosser (Breiseth 106)

Session #2: Art and Criminality: James Taylor, “Mailer and Jack Henry Abbott Revisited: Some Famous Writers and Their Convict Projects”; Phil Sipiora; “Literary Rhetoric in The Executioner’s Song”; Edward Birzin, “Mailer and The Faith of Graffiti”; Moderator: Matthew Hinton (Breiseth 107)

3:45-4:45

The Executioner’s Song: A 40th Anniversary Panel Discussion, with featured speaker Larry Schiller; Moderator: Mike Lennon (Breiseth 107)

5:00-6:30

Dinner on your own

7:00-9:00

Screening of The Executioner’s Song, followed by Q&A with Larry Schiller (Dorothy Dickson Darte Center for the Performing Arts, South St.)

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 12th

9:00-10:00

Undergraduate Work on Mailer: John Buffalo Mailer and Nicole DePolo (Breiseth 106)

10:15-11:30

Two Films on Beverly Bentley: Stephen Mailer’s “Flaubrucht: A Celebration of Life” and Antonia Colodro’s “Beverly”; Introduced by Stephen Mailer (Breiseth 107)

11:45-12:45

Wilkes Readers’ Theater: The Time of Our Time (Breiseth 106): Bonnie Culver, Wendy Hinton, Matthew Hinton, Jason Miller and Jan Quackenbush

1:00-3:00

Luncheon & Keynote Address: Maggie Mailer (Henry Student Center Ballroom, 2nd Fl.)

This year’s keynote address was funded by a generous donation from Mashey Bernstein.