Anne’s World: A New Century of Anne of Green Gables

The recent 100-year anniversary of the first publication of L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables has inspired renewed interest in one of Canada’s most beloved fictional icons. The international appeal of the red-haired orphan has not diminished over the past century, and the cultural meaning of her story continues to grow and change. The original essays in Anne’s World offer fresh and timely approaches to issues of culture, identity, health, and globalization as they apply to Montgomery’s famous character and to today’s readers.

Elizabeth Glenn at the University of Toronto Press website recently blogged on “Anne of the World,” mentioning both Anne’s World and the LMMI conference L.M. Montgomery and the Matter of Nature.

Dr. Benjamin Lefebvre, of Waterloo, Ontario and one of the world’s leading experts on Lucy Maud Montgomery, was reappointed as Visiting Scholar for the institute bearing the famed PEI writer’s name, the L.M. Montgomery Institute (LMMI).

Mark Leggott, Institute chair and University Librarian, announced the year-long appointment during his welcoming remarks at the 2010 L.M. Montgomery Conference taking place at UPEI, June 24–27.

“We are pleased to have Dr. Lefebvre return as our Visiting Scholar and accept this further term. His past year’s work with LMMI’s governing committee in facilitating and expanding scholarship about L.M. Montgomery and her contemporaries has been excellent. We look forward to seeing what exciting initiatives the next year will bring.”

Lefebvre will continue working with the Institute on projects that will benefit Montgomery’s international community of readers, including coediting a collection of essays with UPEI’s Dr. Jean Mitchell, a past Visiting Scholar. The collection will be based on papers presented at the 2010 conference, titled ‘L.M. Montgomery and the Matter of Nature,’ which begins today.

“I am thrilled to be invited to return, as it gives me further opportunities to support the mandate of the LMMI and to be energized by the dedication of its committee members,” Lefebvre says.

He adds, “It is extremely rewarding to witness first-hand the community of Montgomery scholars and readers that have built up over time. I am so pleased with the high quality of work and the range of topics pursued at this conference by participants from all over the world.”

The conference features speakers and panellists from the United States, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Japan, China, Australia, Taiwan, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and South Africa and explores Montgomery’s writing and thoughts on nature through a number of presentations and papers.

The biannual event also provides a captive audience for the release of another one of Lefebvre’s projects, Anne’s World: A New Century of Anne of Green Gables. Edited by Lefebvre and Dr. Irene Gammel, this collection of original essays offers “fresh and timely approaches to issues of culture, identity, health, and globalization as they apply to Montgomery’s famous character, and to today’s readers.” Anne’s World was published by University of Toronto Press this month, June 2010.

Lefebvre has previously published internationally on Montgomery’s fiction and life-writing, and on film, television, and tourism adaptations of her work. His edition of Montgomery’s rediscovered final book, The Blythes Are Quoted, was published by Viking Canada in October 2009.

Lefebvre’s term as Visiting Scholar runs from July 2010 to June 2011. For more information on LMMI and the 2010 L.M. Montgomery Conference, visit www.lmmontgomery.ca.

L.M. Montgomery and the Matter of Nature, the ninth biennial international conference hosted by the L.M. Montgomery Institute at the University of Prince Edward Island, starts today! Check out the conference website for all the details.

A new generation of Montgomery scholars converges in Charlottetown

Young scholars from institutions around the globe will converge in Charlottetown June 23 – 27 at the 2010 International L.M. Montgomery Conference, “L.M. Montgomery and the Matter of Nature,” to share their research on the province’s best-known writer.

For Alicia McDonald, an Islander, UPEI alumna and graduate student at the University of Western Ontario, Montgomery’s works have hit close to home. “Having grown up on Prince Edward Island, I found myself drawn to Anne and subsequently, L.M. Montgomery because they were talking about places I knew, and represented kindred spirits who understood what it was like to grow up in a rural area where everyone knows you. As I’ve gotten older and have traveled further away from PEI, I’ve found Montgomery’s vivid descriptions of our Island and rural culture to be a stunning reminder of home that I can easily carry with me.” McDonald’s presentation, “Literary Tourism – Anne of Green Gables and Twilight as Tourist Attractions,” takes place Saturday, June 26.

Emily Woster, a PhD student at Illinois State University, will be attending the L.M.M. Conference for the third time, along with her mother, Christy Woster. “My love of all things L.M.M. began when my mother named me ‘Emily’ and my sister ‘Anne’ five years later,” says Woster of her interest in Montgomery. L.M.M. has provided her both professional and personal opportunities and lots of “scope for imagination.” The pair will be giving their presentation, entitled “A Book by Its Cover: Collecting the Artistic Interpretations of L.M. Montgomery’s Works,” together on Sunday, June 27.

Jean Mitchell, an associate professor of anthropology at UPEI and co-chair of the 2010 L.M.M. International Conference, sees these presentations as evidence of the continuing interest in Montgomery’s works. “The students’ topics are very far-ranging and eclectic, suggesting Montgomery’s multiple and meaningful influences on a new generation.”

Other student presentations include: Vappu Kannas, of the University of Helsinki, “Familiar landscape in L. M. Montgomery’s Emily series: Nature as the integrating factor in the Finnish translations”; Christiana Salah, of the University of Connecticut, “Bonds of Sea and Shore: Locating the Gothic in Montgomery’s Prehensile Landscape”; Erin Whitmore, of the University of New Brunswick, “The ‘Old-Time Kitchen’: Domesticity, Nature and Avonlea’s Transforming Rural Economy”; and Kathryne Dycus, of the University of Glasgow, “Footprints on the Landscapes of Artistic Creation: “Wanderlust” in the Emily Books”.

All are welcome to register, and day and session passes are available for those unable to attend the full conference. For information and to register, visit lmmontgomery.ca/events/conference2010, email katmacdonal2@upei.ca, or call 902-628-4346.

Former UPEI president Dr. Elizabeth Rollins (‘Betsy’) Epperly, a world-renowned scholar and author on the life and work of L.M. Montgomery, will headline the international conference, “L.M. Montgomery and the Matter of Nature” running June 23 to 27 at UPEI. Her talk, “Natural Bridge: L.M. Montgomery and the Architecture of Imaginative Landscapes” promises to be a highlight in four days of discussion and enjoyment of the enduring legacy of the province’s best-known writer.

“We are thrilled that Betsy can be such an important part of this event,” says conference co-chair Dr. Jean Mitchell of UPEI. “Betsy has so much knowledge and passion for Montgomery that people are always eager to hear what she has to say.”

Ever since Epperly helped establish the L.M. Montgomery Institute at UPEI in 1993, its international conference on Montgomery has become an essential focal point for the rapidly-growing field of Montgomery studies. 2010 marks the ninth such conference, and will draw scholars and admirers from across North America and around the world, with presenters from Europe, Australia, Africa, and Asia.

The 2008 Conference attracted some 200 registrants to Charlottetown, and organizers expect a similarly enthusiastic response this year. Besides Epperly’s keynote, highlights will include: panel discussions of responses to Montgomery in Asia and Europe; a presentation by Canada Research Chair and leading Montgomery scholar Irene Gammel; and the PEI launch of two publications of recently-rediscovered Montgomery works, The Blythes Are Quoted (edited by conference co-chair and LMMI visiting scholar Dr. Benjamin Lefebvre) and Una of the Garden. All are welcome to register, and day and session passes are available for those unable to attend the full conference. For more information and to register, visit lmmontgomery.ca/events/conference2010, e-mail cydennis@upei.ca, or call 902-628-4346.

I frequently get messages from people asking when the rest of the series will be released on DVD, so I’m happy to spread the word, especially since the latter two seasons of Emily of New Moon aired sporadically on the CBC more than three years (2002-2003) after the first two seasons (1998-1999) did.

For the cover art, see the news item on TVShowsonDVD.com.

See the item for this at TVShowsonDVD.com.

2010 marks the 100th anniversary of the publication of L.M. Montgomery’s third novel, Kilmeny of the Orchard. In celebration, the L.M. Montgomery Institute will release a facsimile edition of Una of the Garden, the story that evolved into the Kilmeny novel.

“Una of the Garden” was first published in serial format in The Housekeeper magazine in 1908–1909, but the scarcity of back issues of this magazine made Montgomery’s story inaccessible, until now. The facsimile edition booklet, reproduced from the holdings of the Ryrie-Campbell Collection at LMMI, offers a fascinating opportunity to experience Montgomery’s work within the context of the original magazine publication, including illustrations and advertisements. The booklet also provides insight about the transformation from the story to the novel.

Una of the Garden is edited by Donna J. Campbell and Simon Lloyd, with an introduction by Kate Macdonald Butler.

Proceeds from the sale of this publication will go directly to support the work of the L.M. Montgomery Institute.

Booklet Cost: $20 Canadian or US funds

Purchase Options:
~ L.M. Montgomery Institute General Store
(Available soon:  www.lmmontgomery.ca    PayPal accepted.)

~ L.M. Montgomery Conference held in PEI in June 2010

~ Email contact: campbell.walden@sympatico.ca
(Cash, Money Order, or Canadian $ cheque accepted.)