Message from the Presidents

Address from the Presidents

2009

When we were elected as co-presidents at the International Gothic Association’s conference in July 2009 at the University of Lancaster (a fantastic event magnificently managed by Catherine Spooner, Fred Botting and their team), we were both flattered to be elected and delighted to be taking part in the largest gathering of the IGA to date. As Avril and Sue noted in their previous presidential address on this site, the study of Gothic is flourishing -  a fact made abundantly clear by the presence of 230 delegates from 25 countries and four continents. That the Gothic is now a global phenomenon is underlined by the presence of the AHRC supported Global Gothic network  hosted by the University of Stirling. The growing opportunities for publishing on the Gothic are also testified by the presence of two dedicated series, ‘Gothic Literary Studies’ and ‘Gothic Authors: Critical Revisions’ established with the University of Wales Press and by a proposed new book series of edited collections with Manchester University Press, revealingly titled ‘International Gothic’ in due acknowledgement of the form’s global reach (we hope to have more details of this series soon with relevant cfps). Manchester University Press also continues to publish the peer-reviewed journal Gothic Studies, which has now entered its tenth year of publication. That its readership is growing is evidenced by the subscription figures which reveal that even during a year of recession institutional subscriptions have risen by 9%, with individual subscriptions also on the rise.

 

As co-presidents we have inherited a very healthy situation. Our plans for the next two years are quite simple – to increase membership of the IGA and subscriptions to the journal. We intend to offer support to conferences delivered by a growing number of regional Gothic networks in exchange for IGA membership. The increased revenue will be used, in the main, to develop more bursaries to help support graduate students to attend the showcase biennial conference in 2011 (we hope to have details of the venue soon). So, if you have a Gothic event that you would like us to support then do get in touch with us!

 

We especially want to thanks Avril and Sue (and indeed all the past presidents) for making the IGA the highly prosperous association that it has become. If you are new to the IGA, then welcome! We hope that you will get involved with the association’s activities, or perhaps have some new ones that you would like to suggest. If you are a current member then please also feel free to approach us with any new Gothic-related initiatives that you think the IGA could helpfully support and develop.