AP Society Newsletter #11 delegation agreed that meeting Lord monograph, by former Congressman John The Anthony Powell Society Jenkins would have been a highlight for S Monagan, concerning his long them.) friendship with Powell. This entertaining Newsletter recollection of the unlikely bond between We then heard a funny and candid opening an Irish-American politician of Issue 11 Summer 2003 50p keynote from James Tucker, author of one Democratic affiliation and a British writer of the pioneering critical studies of Powell of Tory leanings provided thoughtful post- with Tony Robinson, a Keble alumnus in the 1970s. Jeremy Warren followed conference reading for many delegates. CHARITY who did yeoman work in setting up the with a talk on the Poussin painting which dinner. Keble, whose architecture was gives its name to Dance, revealing among The next day saw two concurrent REGISTRATION more Gothic and flamboyant, than the other things that the sources of the dance workshops, containing both formal understated assemblage of buildings at of time motif go back to the late antique presentations and freewheeling GRANTED ! Balliol, also contains, in its chapel, author Nonnus. The first session contribution from the floor. Obviously, I concerned Powell at Oxford as well as the could only attend one of these, though I Holman Hunt’s Light of the World, at More details in which we took a brief glance. The dinner Oxford passages of Dance. We then heard heard the workshop on teaching Powell “From the Secretary’s Desk” drew thirty-five or so people. It was from noted critic and biographer DJ went well. The one I attended, on Powell lavish, festive, and, in every sense, fully Taylor as he revealed new aspects on the and Waugh, was very illuminating. As the satisfying. Powell-Orwell relationship. The next speakers compared Waugh’s romantic and Conference Report keynote was by Alan Judd, on the war lyrical view of Oxford with the acerbic The conference proper began the trilogy. This talk was a particular hit, and and understated tone of Powell’s Oxford by Nicholas Birns following morning. Keith welcomed all of the American delegates, who, by and scenes, I realized that the opening us, and also made a statement of regret on large, were not familiar with Judd’s work, paragraph of Brideshead Revisted is, Yes, I actually went to this conference. the loss of Lady Violet Powell, whose were motivated to seek it out. paradoxically, Arnoldian. It is resonant Instead of an air flight from New York early support meant so much to the with appeals to “the best that has been followed by a rail trip from Paddington to Society, as well as one on the untimely After lunch (where I gazed on the portrait known and thought” in a way that Slough (which, in reverse, was the first death of Lord Jenkins of Hillhead, who of Lord Curzon, mentioned, of course, in explained why Brideshead Revisted was train ride Queen Victoria ever took) the had been scheduled to deliver a keynote Infants of the Spring in connection with precisely the success in American 2003 conference involved the same air speech. (Many of the American Oxford), we broke into concurrent middlebrow circles that Dance, ultimately flight followed by a somewhat longer, but sessions where delegates could choose for its own literary good, never was. This still very brief, journey from Paddington between papers directly on Dance itself insight would not have occurred but for to Oxford. Upon arriving at Balliol, I (including a dissection, though not a the stimulating conversation at this found that the “in relative terms” luxury of simulation, of Widmerpool’s speech in symposium. my room explained why Stringham had The Acceptance World) or those consented to spend a year at Oxford before illuminating other aspects of Powell’s life The conference was an incredible success. heading down to London, Donners- and work; both sessions were pretty much It simply could not have gone better. Brebner, and dissipation. In wandering equally attended. A final session on Keith, Noreen, Tony, Stephen Holden, around the vicinity of Balliol I teaching Dance and on “manners” in the Christine Berberich (who did much of the encountered Keith and Noreen Marshall, sequence wrapped things up nicely. After refereeing of papers for the conference), already on their way to Keble to help the reception and auction, a group of us and Sue Frye (whose diligence was an facilitate Sunday night’s dinner at the found a restaurant which one of our absolute prerequisite for the conference’s High Table. Shortly thereafter, we met up number dubbed “Foppa’s”. And we had, success) did a first-rate job of organizing at two separate tables, a splendid meal. the conference and smoothing over the Registered Charity No. 1096873 inevitable difficulties. The camaraderie © The Anthony Powell Society, 2003 and the individual The Monday also saw the launch of The and good feeling among the eighty or so authors named. All rights reserved. Published by The Anthony Powell Society. Master and the Congressman, a delegates was evident from the start. The Printed by Express Printing, Peterborough, UK. 2 AP Society Newsletter #11 AP Society Newsletter #11 atmosphere of Balliol and the A Few Words to the Dinner Guests executive force to tell them what to do. where we saw the BBC video of Dance cooperativeness and friendly demeanour The text of a talk delivered at the Keble Slime mould goes ahead on its own and which has not appeared on US television of the Balliol staff made a perfect College dinner preceding the Oxford carpets the forest floor; harvester ants so far. We’re working on that. So, backdrop for the delegates to share their conference create colonies; city people create considering all of the above, one might enjoyment of this so frequently-enjoyed neighbourhoods; simple, pattern- think of our Society as a patch of activated author. (Balliol’s hospitality started from by Leatrice Gilbert Fountain recognition software learns how to slime mould moving across a forest floor, the top with the Vice-Master and Archivist recommend new books, which is the or perhaps a thriving colony of harvester of Balliol, Dr John Jones, who arranged a In his book Emergence; The Connected system Amazon.com uses. But … the ants, or merely a conglomerate of noisy, special exhibition of Powell-related Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities and Software, conditions for growth must be exactly highly articulate nuts. You may call us manuscripts and memorabilia which author Steven Johnson recalled that Alan right before EMERGENCE can happen. what you will, but I suggest we are showed, for one thing, that Powell’s letters Turing, the brilliant English code breaker Emerging, and I think we’re here to stay. arranging his matriculation at Balliol at from World War II (who also helped I propose that the Anthony Powell Society the age of 18 had nearly the exact tone of invent the digital computer) in one of his is one more example of Emergence in the last Journal entries from the early last papers demonstrated mathematically action. This is not in any way to discredit 1990s.) how a complex organism could assemble or detract from the heroic labours of our itself and take action without any master founder and web master, Keith Marshall. Academics and non-academics, American, planning in evidence to call the shots, a On the contrary, Keith so loved Anthony British, and continental European process known as morphogenesis. This Powell that he devised the ideal conditions delegates got along swimmingly. People was a startling, enigmatic precedent. It for other, like-minded readers to find each came from as far away as Budapest on the had been assumed till then that someone other, to communicate freely, and Tony Robinson incanted the Keble one hand and Vancouver on the other to or something up on top was needed to eventually to grow and increase in wisdom College grace before the pre-conference attend the conference. Beyond our shared direct the action. But Turing said this kind and numbers, even to move great dinner: interest in Powell, many of us found we of cellular change was not dictated from distances. Look at us. Here we are! First had other literary interests in common, and the top down, it could only come from the came the web site, then the ineffable List, Oculi omnium in te sperant, Domine: et tu das this made for stimulating and congenial bottom up. His new hypothesis was followed by the triumphal meeting at Eton escam illorum in tempore opportuno. Aperis conversation throughout. The workshops quickly taken up by micro-biologists who College, subsequently spinning off two tu manum tuam: et imples omne animal on the second day were excellent in that were studying slime mould, an new groups in America, first in New York, benedictione tua. Miserere nostri, te they allowed non-speakers to participate in aggregation of individual cells, acting then Chicago. Another may be forming in quaesumus, Domine. Tuisque donis quae de the dialogue on equal terms. Another together by communicating through their the Boston area, and there is a possible tua benignitate sumus percepturi benedicito; pleasant feature was the auction after own pheromones. This concept was renewal of a lapsed group in Toronto. per Jesum Christum Dominum nostrum. Monday’s activity, which not only raised enlarged further to include a study of [And not to mention the London group. – Amen. money for the society but allowed us to let harvester ants in California, then to the Ed] off steam after an exhausting day. actions of cells in a human brain. Along This is translated as: the way it was found that the same process New people appear, topics of conversation At noon on Tuesday, we all dispersed.