About
This project led by Dr Valentina Gosetti and Dr Daniel Finch-Race explores connections between Europe and Australia since the nineteenth century, especially around shared environmental concerns, with the aim of fostering contemporary intercontinental exchange. Its starting point is the Industrial Revolution when there was a significant increase in travel and cultural exchange.
In April 2019 two days of free events took place in Bristol, providing opportunities to appreciate how the UK, the Francophone world and Australia have long had much in common.
11 April Franco-Australian Connections in an Industrial World
10:00-12:00: SS Great Britain - discussion of Franco-Australian perspectives with video contributions from Australian researchers, followed by an opportunity to explore the venue, renowned as 'one of the most important historic ships in the world'.
14:00-15:30: Bristol Museum & Art Gallery - tour with curator Dr Jenny Gaschke and local artist Alice Cunningham.
16:00-17:30: University of Bristol Theatre Collection + Library Special Collections - showcase of rare materials with Philip Kent (Director of Libraries), Jo Elsworth (Director of Cultural Collections), Jill Sullivan (Archives Assistant), and Michael Richardson (Special Collections Librarian).
12 April Multilingual Poetry Translation as a Catalyst for Change
11:00-12:00: Roundtable discussion with performance by Michèle Métail.
12:30-13:30: Multilingual poetry translation - interactive public event.
This project forms part of Valentina and Daniel's work on eco-regions. An outcome of this collaboration was a co-edited special issue of Dix-Neuf journal on 'Ecoregions' in December 2019.
You can read a short report of the activities here: https://valentinagosetti.wordpress.com/a-series-of-events-in-april-2019/
Valentina has appeared on SBS Radio in a segment titled 'Think you're not fluent in another language? You may still be bilingual'. Listen to it here.
Valentina has also done an interview with Il Globo about poetry in translation, read it here.
Daniel and Valentina recently presented a paper at 'In the Making' poetry and poetics symposium. Read their abstract here.
Daniel's article Elemental Ecocritique of Normandy’s Industrial-Era Coast in Zola’s La joie de vivre was published in Modern & Contemporary France 29:2 (2021). Read it here.
This project is supported by the Language Acts and Worldmaking Small Grants scheme, as well as the Bristol Poetry Institute, the Centre for Material Texts, and the Faculty of Arts at the University of Bristol, and the School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences at the University of New England, Armidale.