Delilah Brataas

Performance: The Convent of Pleasure (London, July 2023)

The Convent of Pleasure was published in 1668 by Margaret Cavendish, yet there is no record that it was ever performed in her lifetime.

Join our independent company as they tackle this rarely staged play of laughter, lesbianism, and rebellious Ladies.

Lady Happy, a noblewoman uninterested in male courtship, decides to lock herself and other Ladies of her class away from the world of men. By sequestering themselves from the marriage-market, those in Lady Happy’s convent indulge in a utopia where gender roles are discarded, and sensory and sensual pleasures run riot.

When a mysterious Princess arrives at the Convent, seeking belonging in the utopian community Lady Happy has created, a new kind of love is sparked.

But if your love can only exist behind locked doors, what happens when the world breaks in?

This raucous comedy probes socio-political questions of gender, sexuality, space and power still prevalent over 350 years after it was written. It blurs boundaries and tests the imagination, moving from convent to fields, from the ocean to the theatre itself.

Don’t miss the opportunity to watch our production, staged in King’s College London’s iconic Renaissance Revival Chapel!

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BOOK TICKETS HERE: Convent of Pleasure Tickets, Thu 27 Jul 2023 at 19:00 | Eventbrite

Performance Dates: July 27-29, 7pm.

Location: The Strand Chapel, King’s College London. Strand, London WC2R 2LS.

Enquiries: conventofpleasure@gmail.com

Instagram: @conventofpleasure

Delilah Brataas

Cavendish Collective Meetings

Thank you to those who joined our discussion with Dr. Julia Borcherding! Going forward, our regular meetings will take place on Wednesday afternoons throughout the summer. Our next meeting will take place on Wednesday, July 12th from 1:00-2:30 PM (EDT). We will start reading Cavendish’s early philosophical treatise titled Philosophical and Physical Opinions (1655).

For this meeting, we will focus on the prefatory material to the 1655 edition. As always, links to the readings can be found on our website. Here is a direct link to the prefatory material that we will discuss during our next meeting: https://www.docdroid.net/xJL2cq8/712-readings-pdf

We look forward to seeing you soon! Please let us know if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Kevin Lower (he/him)

The Cavendish Collective

https://thecavendishcollective.weebly.com/

Delilah Brataas

Margaret Cavendish at 400 Conference, Oxford, UK

A Conference to Celebrate the 400th Anniversary of the Birth of Margaret Cavendish at Mansfield College, Oxford.

Free Registration

Registration Deadline: July 7, 2023, 9:00am BST

How to Register: paul.lodge@mansfield.ox.ac.uk

Unfortunately there is no virtual attendance option at this time.

Conference Schedule:

Friday 14th July

1.30-2.00 – Arrival

2.00-3.15 ‘Cavendish on Music’, Daniel Whiting (University of Southampton)

3.30-4.45 ‘Cavendish, Glanvill, and Witchcraft’, Paul Lodge (University of Oxford)

5.15-6.30 ‘Cavendish on Memory and Remembrance’, Marcy Lascano (University of Kansas)

6.45-7.15 Paul Lodge performs songs from Cantat Ergo Sumus, including settings of poems by Margaret Cavendish www.paullodge.com/cantatergosumus

Saturday 15th July

9.30-10.45 ‘Dancing Figures: Cavendish on Causation and Harmony’, Julia Borcherding (University of Cambridge)

11.00-12.15 ‘Cavendishian Modality’, Laura Georgescu (University of Groningen)

1.30-2.45 ‘The Appendix to the Grounds and the Depth of Cavendish’s Ecology’, Peter West (Northeastern University, London) and Manuel Fasko (University of Basel)

Delilah Brataas

The Online Olios: Early Modern Women Writers+Translation

We invited you to join us for the second Online Olio of the season (and first of 2023)

“Early Modern Women Writers + Translation”

Chair: Karen Griscom (Indiana University of Pennsylvania)

With Panelists: Mihoko Suzuki (University of Miami),

Amelia Mills (Loughborough University),

Marie-Alice Belle (Université de Montréal)

Time: Saturday January 28, 1-3pm EST, 6-8PM GMT

To Register: https://www.canva.com/design/DAFXfv50hO8/NZDWifLrSUn9-29718b2vw/view?website#2

@ https://tinyurl.com/5n78v9yn

Delilah Brataas

The Cavendish Collective: Virtual Workshop

The Cavendish Collective is a virtual reading group on the philosophical writings of Margaret Cavendish. We are planning an interdisciplinary virtual conference designed to motivate collaboration among researchers interested in Cavendish’s writings.

We mainly have connections to historians of early modern philosophy, but we would love to include a broader selection of interdisciplinary presentations if possible!

Submissions are due by March 1, 2023, and the event will take place virtually on Saturday, June 17, 2023. Submissions can be made on our website at: https://thecavendishcollective.weebly.com/workshop.html

Delilah Brataas

2022 Pforzheimer Lecture: Dr. Liza Blake, How a 17th-century Woman Writer Can Revitalize the History of the Book

At 4:30pm CDT on Thursday, October 6th, Dr. Liza Blake from the University of Toronto to tell the story of the polymath Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle (1623–1673), and her work to craft a reputation by carefully managing the distribution of her writing.

DR. LIZA BLAKE, HOW A 17TH-CENTURY WOMAN WRITER CAN REVITALIZE THE HISTORY OF THE BOOK

In an era when many women refused to put their writing into print, Cavendish not only insisted on print as the best medium for her drama, philosophy, poetry, and science fiction, but also was meticulously involved in her books’ creation and customization, both during and after the printing process. In addition to sharing her findings about the many ways Cavendish worked to make each book its own unique object—including custom bindings, annotations with “glitter pen,” frontispieces, and materials included only in copies going to distinguished recipients—Blake will argue that focusing on Cavendish and her books has the potential to reorient the fields of early modern book history and textual bibliography.

Register w/ Eventbrite to attend in person: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/pforzheimer-lecture-series-featuring-dr-liza-blake-tickets-415409640417

Stream live on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBxZt8hgPxY

For more on the Harry Ransom Center and its programs: https://www.hrc.utexas.edu/programs/

Delilah Brataas

Margaret Cavendish Society Call for Volunteers and Nominations

The following roles are open for volunteers or nominations immediately:

  • Vice President
  • Financial Officer
  • Treasurer (able to establish, access, and maintain a nonprofit account, preferably in North America)
  • Communication and Outreach Officer (able to maintain and update the Society website, and online presence)

The rights and responsibilities for each position are listed under bylaws

Volunteers and Nominations should be sent to margaretcavendishsociety@gmail.com