The Messolonghi Byron Society – International Research Center for Lord Byron & Philhellenism announce the postponement of the 15th International Byron Student Conference, which had been scheduled to take place at Messolonghi from 26 to 31 May 2021, to similar dates in 2022.
Once it had become clear, earlier this year, that Covid-19 restrictions in Greece were unlikely to be lifted in time for a face-to-face event to take place in Messolonghi in May, the organisers gave careful consideration to the practicalities of an online event instead. However, what has distinguished these conferences is the rich and multiple rewards of being on the spot in Messolonghi: the opportunity to spend time in the historic town and a picturesque landscape Byron experienced daily in the last months of his life, and to be there amid a group of like-minded scholars at all stages of their careers. None of this could have been replicated by an online format. It is also important that student participants should have the opportunity, as in past years, to experience Greek sights and sites, to become familiar with the Byronic, Romantic, and Philhellenic resources of the library at the Byron House’s research center – and, as has not before happened, to visit the new Byron Museum. This will be beautifully housed and curated by the Messolonghi Byron Society on the 2nd floor of the Byron House and will be inaugurated in May 2021 as part of the national celebrations commemorating the bicentennial of the Greek Revolution.
New dates in May 2022 will be announced in due course. All proposals by students and faculty which were accepted for 2021 will automatically be accepted for 2022. In the meantime, the organisers welcome new proposals, particularly from students, which may be submitted at any time up to a deadline in January 2022, also to be announced. Updates will appear regularly on this website.