St Mary’s PhD Student to Present Paper at the British Library

Kim Salmons, a PhD student at St Mary’s University, Twickenham will present a paper at a British Library symposium Alaska, the Arctic and the US Imagination. The symposium will take place in the Eccles Centre for American Studies at the British Library on Monday 16^th March. The paper titled The Greely Arctic Expedition: A New Source for Joseph Conrad’s short story ‘Falk’ discusses the rescue of the emaciated survivors of an Arctic expedition led by Lieutenant Greely of the US Army in July 1884. Out of the 25 men landed at Lady Franklin Bay in July 1881, seven were found alive. It became apparent that the party had resorted to cannibalism with a confession from one member that another – the ‘best’ of the men – had been shot and eaten. Accounts of the expedition filled the British press as Conrad was returning to London in the Narcissus. Presenting the facts of the case and juxtaposing them against ‘Falk’, it will become clear that there is strong circumstantial evidence, moralistic evaluations and linguistic echoes that link the sensational reporting with Conrad’s story. Kim Salmons is a PhD student in the School of Arts and Humanities. The topic of her PhD is The Representation of Food in Modern Literature: Thomas Hardy and Joseph Conrad (pdf) and studies the degree to which food engages with history, politics, culture, gender, and race. Tickets for the symposium are £10, or £5 for students, including lunch and refreshments. To find out more about the symposium or to book tickets please visit the events page. [caption id="attachment_10602" align="alignnone" width="640"] Kim Salmons[/caption]