Date/Time
Date(s) - 09/19/2016
4:15 PM - 6:45 PM
Location
Stanford Faculty Club, Gold Lounge
Category(ies)
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Register for the Symposium | This event is free and open to the public, however, advance registration is strongly encouraged.
Centennial Celebration, Symposium, and Exhibition at Stanford University
Jack London (January 12, 1876 – November 22, 1916) was a prolific turn of the century author and journalist best known for his adventure novels set in the great American West. His novels, including The Call of the Wild, White Fang, and Martin Eden, placed London among the most celebrated western authors of his time. London was also a leading journalist and an outspoken socialist. He authored about 300 short stories, novels, poems, and articles during his brief 40 years of life.
The symposium will mark the 100th anniversary of his death in 1916 with panel presentations representing three aspects of his life and career:
- His unique biography;
- The history and culture during the turn of the century era in the American West;
- And, capturing the vibrant scholarship and criticism surrounding the man, his legend, life, and creative writings.
London had a deep connection to Stanford even though he briefly attended UC Berkeley. He lectured often at the University about literature, socialism and social justice; was romantically and intellectually involved with a Stanford graduate student (Anna Strunsky Walling, 1877-1964) who remained lifetime friends and colleagues; and the University Press published his letters in 1988 (3 volume set) and London’s complete stories in 1993, to name a few examples.
Exhibition of Objects and Documents
This event will also feature a curated pop-up exhibit made possible by a loan from the private collections of Sarah and Darius Anderson of Sonoma. This special exhibit considers the cult of celebrity surrounding Jack London in the twentieth century, and the hold that he continues to have on the Western imagination.