Hello!
We are excited to tell you that your abstract has been accepted in our Whitman and the Beats conference!

We were happily pleased to see so many great scholars working on a plethora of interesting facets of the Whitman/Beat connection and we are looking forward to hearing you read your paper in March in what we anticipate to be an exciting conference.

While details will continue to follow, let me give some important information concerning the conference:

1)The conference will be held on Saturday March 27th and Sunday March 28th
· The conference was originally planned to be held over three days but after much discussion we have decided to hold it in two, with all of the papers being presented on Saturday and two walking tours on Sunday. Here’s why: we have all been to conferences in which people read a paper and disappear, never to be heard from again. But since all of the presenters at this conference are dealing with much the same source material, we are hoping to build bonds that far outlast the conference. By concentrating these panel sessions over one day, we expect for a greater transference of knowledge and energy.

2)We are excited to announce that Anne Charters will give the keynote speech, entitled, “"A Mountain Too Vast To Be Seen' -- Walt Whitman and the Beats." Dr. Charters, professor of English at the University of Connecticut, is the author of numerous books and articles on Beat writers, including the first ever biography of Jack Kerouac. A truly dynamic speaker and scholar, we are honored that Dr. Charters will be part of our conference.

3)The registration fee is $100 for faculty members, $50 dollars for graduate students and independent scholars. Please make checks payable to St. Francis College.

Send checks to:
St. Francis College
Whitman and the Beats Conference
c/o Dr. Tim Houlihan
180 Remsen Street
Brooklyn Heights
New York, 11201.

· We understand these are tough economic times and if you are unable to pay the registration fee, please contact me at jlennon@stfranciscollege.edu and we will arraign something—we want you here!

3)We need you to confirm that you will be attending this conference by March 1st. This is paramount. We will spend a good deal of time attempting to match papers that organically go well together and we do not want to have panels with no shows. So, please do confirm your acceptance and your desire to come to the conference. Please confirm to whitmanandthebeats@yahoo.com as soon as possible. (Please place in the subject line: “Confirm”)

4)Schedule of events (as the date draws nearer, I will update you with a precise schedule of events)
· On Saturday, we will have panels in the morning, lunch and lecture by Anne Charters, followed by panels in the afternoon. Immediately following, we will then be treated to cocktails and a concert.
· On Sunday we will have two walking tours: In the late morning we will stay in Brooklyn, where we focus on the places that influenced some of Whitman’s most famous poems. From there, we will make a short trip to Greenwich Village, where we will walk by (and sometimes in) the bars, coffee shops, parks and apartments where many of the Beat writers lived and wrote.
5)Please see the attached documentation which includes hotels in the area, restaurants, activities, etc.

We are excited by our many panels and the fascinating scholarly research that all of our participants are engaged. We look forward to meeting you and listening to your presentation.

Take care,
John Lennon

p.s. Please go to our blog http://whitmanandthebeats.blogspot.com/ for updated information.