[N.B. This page is presented purely for archival purposes. The Conference was held July 12-14, 2018.]
Experience what will be the biggest Thornton Wilder gathering this year! The Third International Thornton Wilder Conference will be held in Peterborough, New Hampshire, July 12-14, 2018. The conference is co-sponsored by the Thornton Wilder Society, the Wilder Family, and the Monadnock Center for History and Culture. Peterborough, a small town in southern New Hampshire, is the site of the MacDowell Colony, which has provided support for thousands of writers, artists, and composers since its founding in 1907. The Colony was one of Thornton Wilder’s favorite places to work on a novel or play; and because part of Our Town was written there, Peterborough is often cited as the model for Grover’s Corners, one of the most famous fictional towns in American literature. Wilder received the inaugural MacDowell Medal in 1960, an award that has since been bestowed on many of the world’s most notable artists in all media.
In addition to paper presentations by scholars from all over the country and overseas, we will have panel discussions and readings with theatre artists such as David Greenspan, Jim Knable, Carl Forsman, and Laurie McCants. At the opening night reception on July 11, David Greenspan will perform an excerpt from his stage adaptation of The Bridge of San Luis Rey. Thursday night features a reading of The Long Christmas Dinner followed by a discussion of Wilder’s one-act plays led by director Carl Forsman. On Friday evening, the Peterborough Players will perform The Skin of Our Teeth. Friday afternoon features a walking tour of Wilder-related and Our Town–related sites in Peterborough, and a bus tour that includes a visit to Wilder’s studio at the MacDowell Colony and the cemetery depicted in Our Town. At the closing-night banquet the Wilder Prize will be awarded to renowned playwright Donald Margulies, along with a reading from Jim Knable’s stage adaptation of Wilder’s first novel, The Cabala.
Conference Sessions will be held at the Monadnock Center for History and Culture in Peterborough, New Hampshire.