Comedy Studies is delighted to publish a special issue edited by Sarah Ilott and Helen Davies of conference proceedings held at the University of Tees in September 2016. The conference, entitled Mock the Weak: Comedy and the Politics of Representation, had a keynote from Sharon Lockyer, combined with writing workshops, interviews and roundtables with comedy writers, a performance from a leading stand-up comedian, alongside the conventional programme of academic papers. Selected conference papers appear in this issue along with three of our general articles on eclectic comedy concerns.
Next year the journal is honoured to play host to another special issue based on a Colloquium on Australasian Satire and John M. Clarke (1948--2017), to be edited by Jessica Milner Davis and Robert Phiddian.
John Clarke (1948–2017) was one of Australia's and New Zealand's most accomplished and most celebrated humourists. From his early performances as the iconic character, Fred Dagg, to his creation of one of Australia's most acclaimed screen comedies, The Games (1998–2000), and through his three decades of incisive comic interviews alongside Bryan Dawe, Clarke emerged as the pre-eminent antipodean political satirist, working across multiple media and formats. His influence was such that he did not simply embody the comic traditions of two nations but transformed and extended them. Clarke's comedy occupies a central place in the cultural landscape of both countries that he called home.
One year after his untimely death in 2017, a scholarly collection dedicated to examining his work is being prepared. Key papers will be presented at a Colloquium that will critically examine Clarke's life and comedic work. The event will be held at Massey University, Palmerston North – the city of Clarke's birth and childhood – from May 25–26. Following the colloquium, the contents of the special Issue will be finalised.
Call for papers: Colloquium On The Work Of John M. Clarke.
Massey University, Palmerston North, 25–26 May 2018.
Prospective presenters and attendees at the colloquium are invited to contact the Convenor by 18 March 2018:
Colloquium Convenor: Dr Nicholas Holm, English and Media Studies, Massey University, Wellington, NZ: [email protected].