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)
- Announcements: Maggie McKinley
- Mailer Review: Phillip Sipiora
- Board Nominations: Jerry Lucas
- Lucid Award Committee: Nicole DePolo
- Treasurer’s Report: Jason Mosser
- 2019 Conference Site: Maggie McKinley
- 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)
- Matthew Hinton, “The Pugilist vs. The Publisher: Norman Mailer Takes On”
- Chondell Villines, “Mailer and Celebrity”
- Bill Lowenburg, “Mailer: A Life in Pictures”
- Moderator: Robert Saxe
Session #2: Philosophical Foundations & Political Connections
(Breiseth 106)
- 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
12:30-1:45
Lunch on Your Own
2:00-3:00
Session #1: Mailer and Journalism
(Breiseth 107)
- 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
Session #2: Of a Fire on the Moon After 50 Years
(Breiseth 106)
- Carol Holmes Alpern, “Of a Fire on the Moon: A Retrospective”
- Walter Lewallen, “That Sinking Feeling”
- Moderator: Enid Stubin
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)
- Jeanne Fuchs, “Mailer in Translation”
- Jason Mosser, “Mailer and Malaquais in Conversation”
- Mike Lennon, “Mailer and Stendhal”
- Moderator: Victor Peppard
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)
- 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
3:45-4:45
The Executioner’s Song: A 40th Anniversary Panel Discussion
(Breiseth 107)
- Featured speaker Larry Schiller
- Moderator: Mike Lennon
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.