Conference on Noir Aesthetics, University of Edinburgh, June 15, 2018: Call For Papers

From the mailbox:

Noir Aesthetics in World Literatures
 Organised by the Language and Violence Research Strand and the Department of European Languages and Cultures (DELC) of the University of Edinburgh, this one-day symposium will focus on the evolution of narrative techniques towards noir aesthetics in world literatures.
 Featuring papers by selected researchers, and a conversation with invited author, Christopher Brookmyre, it will look at texts which favour the adoption of a new consciousness towards cultural politics, as they reinforce the connection between literature and public affairs.
 For more information:
https://www.ed.ac.uk/literatures-languages-cultures/delc/events/noir-aesthetics-in-world-literatures We invite all those who wish to participate in the ‘Noir Aesthetics in World Literatures’ symposium to send their proposals for twenty-minute papers, exploring the questions presented above, with an abstract of no more than 300 words to v1malons@ed.ac.uk by 28th February 2018.
 

ICYMI: Some Books on Film Noir To Add To Your Bookshelf

ICYMI:

Two interesting books by Sheri Chinen Biesen on film noir:

Blackout: World War II and the Origins of Film Noir (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005).

Music in the Shadows: Noir Musical Films (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2014).



More here from Noirbooks.

In addition, check out

John Grant, A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Film Noir: The Essential Reference Guide (Limelight Press, 2013).

Foster Hirsch, The Dark Side of the Screen: Film Noir, 2d ed. (Da Capo Press, 2008).

Alain Silver et al., The Film Noir Encyclopedia (Overlook Press, 2010).

A Film Noir List

The Guardian offers up its Top Ten list of film noir picks here. What are yours?

Filmmaker Jules Dassin Dies

Filmmaker Jules Dassin has died at the age of 96. Mr. Dassin was born in the US, where he began his career in the Yiddish theater. He made one of his most famous films, the noir classic The Naked City, in 1948. He eventually left the US for France after the House UnAmerican Activities hearings began and he fell under suspicion. He married his second wife, actress Melina Mercouri, there.

Among Mr. Dassin's other law related films are Rififi and Never On Sunday. He is survived by a daughter, actress Julie Dassin. His son, singer Joe Dassin, died in 1980. Read and hear more about Mr. Dassin here from NPR, here from Agence France Presse and here from the Los Angeles Times.