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)

  1. Announcements: Maggie McKinley
  2. Mailer Review: Phillip Sipiora
  3. Board Nominations: Jerry Lucas
  4. Lucid Award Committee: Nicole DePolo
  5. Treasurer’s Report: Jason Mosser
  6. 2019 Conference Site: Maggie McKinley
  7. New Business

10:15-11:15

The Politics of American Democracy

(Breiseth 106)

  • 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

11:30-12:30

Session #1: Mailer in the Public Eye

(Breiseth 107)

Session #2: Philosophical Foundations & Political Connections

(Breiseth 106)

12:30-1:45

Lunch on Your Own

2:00-3:00

Session #1: Mailer and Journalism

(Breiseth 107)

Session #2: Of a Fire on the Moon After 50 Years

(Breiseth 106)

3:15-4:15

Current Mailer Projects

(Breiseth 106)

Mike Lennon; Jerry Lucas; Susan Mailer; Maggie McKinley

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

(Farley Library, 2nd Floor)

Dedication of Nancy Ellen Craig’s Mailer Portrait

Dinner on your own

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 11th

9:00-10:00

Mailer and McLuhan

(Breiseth 106)

Nicole DePolo; Jerry Lucas; Sal Fallica

10:15-11:15

Norman Mailer and the Actor’s Studio

(Breiseth 107)

John Buffalo Mailer; Timothy Nolan; Mike Lennon

11:30-12:30

Session #1: Mailer and Violence

(Breiseth 106)

Mark Olshaker; Marc Triplett; Maggie McKinley

Session #2: Mailer’s French Connection

(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

(Breiseth 106)

  • 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

Session #2: Art and Criminality

(Breiseth 107)

3:45-4:45

The Executioner’s Song: A 40th Anniversary Panel Discussion

(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

(Breiseth 106)

John Buffalo Mailer and Nicole DePolo

10:15-11:30

Two Films on Beverly Bentley

(Breiseth 107)

  • Stephen Mailer’s “Flaubrucht: A Celebration of Life”
  • Antonia Colodro’s “Beverly”
  • Introduced by Stephen Mailer

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.