Over 80 scholars and students gathered in Trinity College Dublin to discuss all aspects of Eliot’s work, from his engagements with Ireland and Irish literary culture to an exploration of the ways that developments in AI impact our understanding of his achievement. In addition to local scholars, including Trinity PhD students Yuqi Li and Elena Valli, and Professors Philip Coleman, Bernice Murphy, Tom Walker, and Christopher Morash, the conference welcomed participants from China, Japan, South Korea, Canada, Italy, Hungary, Poland, Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The plenary lecture was delivered by Prof Fran Brearton (Queen’s University Belfast) and is now available here (with an introduction by the President of the International T. S. Eliot Society, Prof Patrick Query):
As part of the conference, a performance of Eliot’s Sweeney Agonistes was adapted by an ensemble directed by Professor Nicholas Johnson (School of Creative Arts) in the Samuel Beckett Theatre. The conference concluded with a poetry reading by John F. Deane, Gustav Parker Hibbett, Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin, and Jessica Traynor.
Co-organizer of the conference and International T.S Eliot Society member, Professor Philip Coleman (School of English) commented: "It was a great honour to host the 46th Annual International T. S. Eliot Society conference in Trinity this year, the first time the Society’s conference has been held in Ireland. The conference allowed scholars from around the world to share new perspectives on Eliot’s work but it also created opportunities for critical and creative conversations and collaborations that will lead to the generation of important work in the future."
Professor Coleman was made an Honorary Lifelong Member of the T. S. Eliot Society in acknowledgement of the work he did in helping to bring the conference to Trinity in 2025.
Members of the Board of the International T. S. Eliot Society and Professor Philip Coleman. Back row: Ronald Schuchard, Megan Quigley, John Morgenstern. Middle row: David Chinitz, Ria Banerjee, John Whittier-Ferguson, Patrick Query. Front row: Vincent Sherry, Philip Coleman, Anthony Cuda, Frances Dickey.
Further details about the conference programme and the International T. S. Eliot Society can be found here: https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/tseliotsociety/2025/02/07/46th-annual-tse-society-meeting-trinity-college-dublin/