Walt Whitman Birthplace Association (WWBA) invites you to attend the inaugural Walt Whitman International Festival (WWIF) to be held August 9-11, 2019 at Walt’s Birthplace on Long Island, NY, in celebration of Whitman’s Bicentennial birthday. Join this historic celebration.
Walt was born here in 1819 in a home built by his father. In Walt’s poem, “There Was a Child Went Forth,” he commemorates his Birthplace environs that “became part of that child who went forth every day, and who now goes, and will always go forth every day.”
Walk in Walt’s footsteps and join the International Festival in a way that suits you best: as a presenter, as an attendee, as a friend of Whitman. There will be academic presentations, musical interludes, theatrical events, a high school student program, poetry readings and marathon readings of “Leaves of Grass.”
Presenters will cover a wide range of topics on Walt Whitman. We hope you will take this opportunity to meet an international crowd, present your ideas, learn from accomplished scholars and poets, network with a broad Whitman audience and enjoy the festivities.
Topics of interest for paper or panel proposals include, but are not limited to:
-Impact of Whitman on domestic and international social justice issues
-Whitman’s influence on pop culture (e.g.: Breaking Bad, Dead Poets Society, The Twilight Zone, Paper Towns, Volvo and Levi’s commercials)
-Significance of place in early childhood: how the ecological landscape impacts children and/or impacted Whitman
-The spectrum of Whitman’s sexuality
-Comparative approaches to Whitman and other poets
-Technology and Whitman
-Cross-cultural influences created by Whitman’s poetry in politics, art, music, social media and other aspects of society