First Biennial
Anthony Powell Conference

The inaugural conference was attended by some 65 delegates from around the world; a wonderful mixture of enthusiasts, academics, literarists and journalists. Amongst the audience were John Powell, AJ Tucker, AN Wilson, DJ Taylor, Hugh Massingberd, George Lilley, Patric Dickinson.

The 3 keynote speeches and 8 delegate papers were interspersed with sufficient lively debate that the whole time table almost fell apart - and that despite the skilful chairmanship of Dr Saul David.

After lunch the delegates were given a tour of the College, including the library where there College's collection of Powell memorabilia was on display. The Society is most grateful to Mr Michael Meredith, the Eton College Librarian, for arranging and leading the tour.

During a short break in the proceedings the Society's President, Hugh Massingberd, presented a Book of Remembrance to Anthony Powell to John Powell, who received it on behalf of the Powell family. The book had been signed by many of the conference delegates and also included all the entries made in the Book of Remembrance on this site.

A second memorial, this one for Professor John Russell an early academic supporter and critic of Powell's, was also signed by delegates. This memorial is to be presented to Prof. Russell's family by Cathleen Ann Steg show had studied with Russell.

The conference received journalistic attention from: AN Wilson (Daily Telegraph, 30 April 2001) Simon Barnes (The Times, 28 April 2001) and DJ Taylor (The Independent, 28 April 2001). Sadly none of these articles are available online.

The proceedings of the conference are available as an A5 paperback book of 160+ pages under the title Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of A Dance to the Music of Time. The book contains the complete text of all the presented papers and keynote speeches, plus one additional paper not presented, and a transcript of the discussion sessions. The first edition is a numbered limited edition of just 250 copies, all signed by John Powell, younger son of Anthony Powell and the Society's Patron. Copies (post free to Society members) are £15 each and may be ordered from the Hon. Secretary. (Non-members please add P&P: UK £0.95, Europe £1.90, Rest of World £2.80 per copy.)

The day before the conference a number of delegates had Sunday Lunch at The Ritz Hotel in Piccadilly - setting for a number of scenes in Dance. The lunch was addressed by Hugh Massingberd, the Society's new President, and historian of the Ritz.
Ritz Sunday Lunch pictures
Hugh Massingberd's after lunch talk - coming soon