Cormac McCarthy Society Conference Fall 2022
DeSoto Hotel
15 E. Liberty St., Savannah, GA
Organizers: Stacey Peebles and Steven Frye
DRAFT PROGRAM
Wednesday, Sept. 21
2:00-3:20
Session One: Language, Knowledge, and Power
Chair: Steven Frye, California State University, Bakersfield
“’My Word is Not Dead’: Chaos, Law, and the Materiality of McCarthy’s Language,” Vernon Cisney, Gettysburg College
“’Sermon on the Mountains’: McCarthy and the Biblical Mode,” Bill Hardwig, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
“Chaos and Destruction: Gender, Epistemology, and Power in McCarthy and Reichardt,” Jay Ellis, University of Colorado
3:30-5:00
Session Two: Style and Aesthetics, Early and Late
Chair: Stacey Peebles, Centre College
“A Mere Stone: The Core of Being, A Vortex Between Suttree and the Judge,” Dorian Salvador, Independent Scholar
“’There is no rule of exchange here, you see’: Grief, Grievance, and Compassion in McCarthy’s The Counselor,” Brad Bannon, University of Tennessee
“Reading McCarthy’s Suttree as a Blues: Hounds and the Blackness of Ab Jones,” Richard Rankin Russell, Baylor University
6:30-8:30
Welcome and Opening Reception
Drinks and heavy hors d’oeuvres 6:30-7:30
Cash Bar 7:30-8:30
Thursday, Sept. 22
Light Breakfast Available at 7:30
7:30-8:50
Session Three (Panel Discussion): “We dedicate ourselves anew daily”: McCarthy’s Positive Project
Moderators:
Jonathan Elmore, Savannah State University
Rick Elmore, Appalachian State University
Participants:
Peter Lurie, University of Richmond
Jordan Dominy, Savannah State University
9:00-10:20
Session Four: Mystery and Numerology in Blood Meridian
Chair: Bryan Vescio, High Point University
“Inversions Without End: Further Mysteries of the Meridian Revealed,” Kelly James, Independent Scholar
“The Significance of the Number 8 in Blood Meridian,” William Wickey, Independent Scholar
“If Young Nietzsche had Read Blood Meridian: A Music of Understatement and its Relation to McCarthy’s Tragic Sublime,” William Quirk, American University
10:30-11:50
Session Five: Narrative, Gender, and the Post-Secular
Chair: Lydia R. Cooper, Creighton University
“Outer Dark and the Dismissing of Responsibility as a Purgatorial Plane,” Brodie Lowe, Independent Scholar
“Peripheral Paragons: The Narrative Function of Minor (Dead) Female Characters in Cities of the Plain and No Country for Old Men,” Nell Sullivan, University of Houston, Downtown
“Salvation and Redemption?: McCarthy’s Post-Secular Vision,” Bryan Vescio, High Point University
Lunch (on your own): 12:00-1:00
1:00-2:10
Session Six: First Thoughts on The Passenger and Stella Maris
Moderator: Stacey Peebles, Centre College
Panelists:
Dianne C. Luce, President Emerita of the Cormac McCarthy Society
Steven Frye, California State University, Bakersfield
Lydia R. Cooper, Creighton University
Bryan Giemza, Texas Tech University
2:15-3:50
Session Seven: Considering McCarthy in Various Contexts
Chair: Scott Yarbrough, Charleston Southern University
“Teaching McCarthy in the Modern High School Classroom: The Road and All the Pretty Horses,” Daniel Charlton, Johns Hopkins University
“We Call it All: A Graduate Seminar on the Works of McCarthy,” Todd Womble, Abilene Christian University
“’The Truth Will Be There Yet’: No Country for Old Men and the Truth,” Matt Hawk, Baylor University
“’A whole new style seemed to be seeking expression here’: McCarthy’s Trade of Wonder, or Standing a Stone in Suttree,” Russell Hillier, Providence College
4:00-5:00
Session Eight (Panel Discussion): Teaching Cormac McCarthy
Moderator:
Benjamin West, SUNY Delhi
Participants:
Stacey Peebles, Centre College
Steven Frye, California State University, Bakersfield
Lydia R. Cooper, Creighton University
Friday, Sept. 23
Light Breakfast Available at 7:30
7:30-8:50
Session Nine: Continuity, Being, and Change in the Border Trilogy
Chair: Olivia Carr Edenfield, Georgia Southern University
“The Crossing and the Mexican Revolution,” Brent Cline, Hillsdale College
“Narrative and the Unfolding of Being in The Crossing,” Rebecca McIntosh, Abilene Christian University
“Platonic Love: Unifying Cormac McCarthy’s Border Trilogy,” Terra Kirkland
9:00-10:20
Session Ten: Maps and Mazes in The Road
Chair: Bryan Vescio, High Point University
“Like the Last Host of Christendom: Demonic and Holy Communion in The Road,” Marcel DeCoste, University of Regina
“Fun with Maps: Situating Cormac McCarthy’s The Road Geographically,” Brett Lewis, University of Memphis
“Maps and Legends: Patterns of Go Down, Moses in The Road,” Scott Yarbrough, Charleston Southern University
10:30-11:50
Session Eleven (Panel Discussion):
Myth, Legend, Destiny: The Resilient Narratives of an Outlaw in Dennis McCarthy’s The Gospel According to Billy the Kid and Michael Ondaatje’s The Collected Works of Billy the Kid
Moderator:
Rick Wallach, Founder of the Cormac McCarthy Society
Participants:
Dennis McCarthy, Author of The Gospel According to Billy the Kid
Scott Yarbrough, Charleston Southern University
12:00-2:00
Keynote Lunch
"The Passenger: Cormac McCarthy by Beowulf Sheehan"
Renowned photographer Beowulf Sheehan, whose author photos of McCarthy are featured on The Passenger and Stella Maris as well as on www.cormacmccarthysociety.com, will give a keynote address featuring previously unseen photos of McCarthy at the Santa Fe Institute and his home, and reflections on a career building bridges between visual and textual storytelling.
5:00
Tour of Exhibition: "The Passenger: Cormac McCarthy by Beowulf Sheehan"
and Reception at Location Gallery, 251 Bull Street
(across the street from the DeSoto)