Apply now to join the conversation about the life and works of L.M. Montgomery by registering for the Fifth Biennial International Conference on L.M. Montgomery being held at the University of Prince Edward Island June 20-23, 2002. The theme is L.M. Montgomery and Life Writing which will involve presenters examining intimate details of Montgomery's life that have not been used before to understand her life scripts and those of her characters. The conference will be an exciting opportunity for Montgomery enthusiasts of all backgrounds.

"The sheer amount of new information and insights that will be presented by leading Montgomery authorities from around the world makes this conference a special opportunity," says Betsy Epperly, Conference Chairperson.

Friday morning's opening keynote, entitled "Untangling the Web" will be given by Mary Rubio and Elizabeth Waterston, co-editors of Montgomery's journals, of which the fifth, and final, volume is soon to be published. The Journals offer a rich fund of data that encourages us to set Montgomery's private record against the actualities of life. The talk will focus on Montgomery's late "adult" novel A Tangled Web (1931), which is filled with life-writing material from the later journals. As a satire of clan and Island life, the novel offers special clues for the reading of the last volume of the journals.

Irene Gammel, UPEI professor and Montgomery Scholar, will give a keynote on "Montgomery's Moonstorm: Where Life Writing Meets Fiction." Gammel will suggest reading Montgomery's girls' fiction through her life writing to provide insight on how Montgomery manipulated the representation of a taboo subject, while also ensuring that her girls' fiction remained a safe space for her girl reader. Ultimately, this contextual reading forces the reader to reconfigure Montgomery from the one-dimensional straightlaced post-Victorian authoress of wholesome fiction to an author who self-consciously wrestled with unveiling the female body in her fiction and life writing.

Over the three days, stimulating discussion will be led by more than 30 presenters on topics that include research into unpublished war records, poisoning, controversial psychiatric diagnoses, theories of compulsory heterosexuality, turn-of-the century photography, and even twentieth-century and new-age astrology. Presenters and participants will reconsider Montgomery and the various forms of life-writing and life-scripts in her journals, novels, letters, scrapbooks and photographs.

From January to June 1903, Nora Lefurgey, the then Cavendish school teacher, boarded with L.M. Montgomery and her grandmother Macneill. The two friends co-authored "two absurd 'diaries'," which recounted their exploits and flirtations, and were illustrated with sketches and bound in fancy papers. Jennifer Litster's talk entitled "The Secret Diary of Maud Montgomery Aged 29 1/4," will focus on these diaries.

L.M. Montgomery's fiction speaks eloquently of female friendship. Her journals demonstrate, unlike her fiction, the necessity for female friendship over and above the companionship of marriage. In her talk "A rare and perfect friendship: L.M. Montgomery and Frederica Campbell MacFarlane," Andrea McKenzie will discuss why MacFarlane and Montgomery's friendship is significant, not only for its influence on Montgomery's work, but also for the example it gives of the role of friendship in helping women sustain the pressures of negotiating life as a public figure with the conventions expected of them in private life.

Montgomery's astrological birth chart will be used to explore the character, potential and possibilities of L.M. Montgomery by Chris Saunders in her talk "Written in the Stars ?: L.M. Montgomery's Birth Chart." She will examine her upbringing, relationships, the type of work she chose, the forms of writing she chose, and the way that she portrayed her characters, including herself, through movements in the birth chart as shown by solar returns and transits.

Building on the notion of a discrepancy between Montgomery's public and private personas, Benjamin Lefebvre will present "The Performance Anxiety of L.M. Montgomery." The publication of Montgomery' selected journals has shattered the "illusions" of legions of readers who were expecting these texts to be the autobiography of Anne of Green Gables.

"Was L.M. Montgomery a Christian? An Examination of Religion and Society Through the Journals" is the title of a talk by Theresa Little. She will trace the religious development of Montgomery, demonstrating that she is not an evangelical Presbyterian and not completely a transcendentalist, but something in between the two.

L.M. Montgomery's journals and fictional works reflect conflicting feelings about the role of women in marriage and society. The period during which Montgomery lived and wrote was one of substantial change in women's rights and roles, and her writing increasingly indicated the influence of that change, from her conservative spinster Marilla in 1908 through her strong independent Jane in 1937. In her talk "Writing the Life of the Single Woman: Spinsters and Old Maids in the Works of L.M. Montgomery," Sarah Goff will explore Montgomery's attitude toward the old maids in her works and her own ambiguous feelings toward marriage, as expressed in her journals.

Ideals of feminine beauty may have changed from Montgomery's day to our own, but the pressure to conform has not, and Montgomery herself relied on "faithful cold-creaming" and self-invented "facial exercises" to maintain her youthful appearance. By bringing together passages on the subject of appearance from Montgomery's journals and letters as well as close examinations of photographic and descriptive self-portraits, and an analysis of Anne's many confrontations with "the beauty myth," Wanda Campbell will explore connections between the life of Montgomery's characters and her own in her talk entitled "Through the Looking Glass: L.M. Montgomery and the Beauty Myth."

An exploration of the history of sexuality in North America in Montgomery's time, and a comparison of Montgomery's relationship with Isobel to her intimate friendships with other women, is the focus of Laura Robinson's talk on "Maud and Isobel and the Invention of Heterosexuality." While

Montgomery determines that Isobel is a "sex pervert," in many way the descriptions of Montgomery's friendships with other women in her journals and of the female friendships in her novels are similar to the outpourings of passion which Isobel expresses.

In keeping with the focus on Montgomery's life, the Thursday night opening event - sponsored by the L.M. Montgomery Heritage Society - will take place at one of her favorite spots, the Campbell home at Park Corner. In the fine tradition of Campbell hospitality that was famous in Montgomery's day, too, George and Maureen Campbell (cousins of Montgomery) will welcome conference delegates to their historic farmhouse and grounds. On their way back to the UPEI campus, delegates will be treated to a torchlight walk at the site of Montgomery's Cavendish Home, led by John and Jennie Macneill (also cousins of Montgomery).

Elizabeth Epperly, Chair of the conference and founder of the L.M. Montgomery Institute, will share her own latest work as curator for a Virtual Museum of Canada exhibition entitled Picturing a Canadian Life: L.M. Montgomery's Personal Scrapbooks and Book Covers at a special reception on Friday evening, June 21 at the Confederation Centre that will also feature a launching of two of Elizabeth Waterston's latest books.

For the first time, immediately following the conference there will be an intensive, one-week, on-campus writing workshop, that focuses on elements common to poetry, short fiction, the novel, and life writing. During the two subsequent weeks, instructors will read and comment on participants' writing through e-mail.

"I came to UPEI as an undergraduate, partly because of L.M. Montgomery's passion for the Island," says Epperly. "We see this conference as providing a similar opportunity for others to celebrate and learn about Montgomery in the province she loved."

The Honourable Shawn Murphy, MP for Charlottetown, on behalf of the Honourable David L. Emerson, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for the National Research Council of Canada (NRC), and the Honourable Joe McGuire, Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, held a ceremonial event on November 12 to kick-off construction of the new NRC Institute for Nutrisciences and Health (NRC-INH) on the UPEI campus.

The Institute, a partnership between the NRC, the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA), the Province of Prince Edward Island (PEI) and the University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI), will be the nucleus of a dynamic research cluster bringing together the critical mass of skilled people, expertise, capital and entrepreneurial drive to fuel economic development in the region and help Canadians through its research into critical health issues.

"Since the earliest planning days, this new NRC Institute was envisioned as the hub of the nutrisciences cluster that is emerging in this region," said Mr. Murphy. "Today we see that vision begin to take physical shape, and it is exciting to know that it, like the many NRC institutes across the country, will attract investment and opportunity on a grand scale."

"PEI has many of the characteristics that make it an ideal environment in which to grow a technology cluster. There is a solid foundation of basic and health-related research, accessible levels of government that can respond quickly to challenges and opportunities, and a cross-sector willingness and enthusiasm to work together to make the initiative succeed," said Minister Emerson.

"The partnerships built within the PEI cluster will not only strengthen the research base, but will also foster the development of new products, services, businesses and high-quality jobs", Minister McGuire said.

Scientists at the NRC Institute in Charlottetown specialize in studying compounds found in nature for their potential to improve health. Three primary areas of concentration are neurological disorders, obesity-related disorders, and infection and immunity. Teams work along the research continuum from discovery of the compounds, to refinement and, ultimately to their commercialization.

"Innovation in research and development will be key to the growth of our economy," said PEI Development and Technology Minister Mike Currie, on behalf of Premier Pat Binns. "The partnerships that are fostered by the NRC - Institute for Nutrisciences and Health will form the basis for our emerging bio-sciences sector and will be an important component of job and wealth creation for this province."

"This cluster is one of the hottest things in Canada today. It represents a platform for sustained success, combining the strengths of the NRC, the expertise at UPEI, a dynamic private sector, exceptional support from government, and an enthusiastic community," said UPEI President Wade MacLauchlan. "The challenge now is to keep building it with the highest possible ambitions for national and international success."

Construction of the $11.5 million, 5 127 square meter (55,269 square foot) facility, will be complete in early 2006. NRC-INH has been designed to house leading-edge equipment and to maximize interaction and collaboration among the teams of highly skilled research professionals. The first floor will consist of administrative offices, meeting rooms, a lecture theatre and space for the local branch of the NRC Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP) and NRC Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information (NRC-CISTI).

The remaining three floors will house sophisticated research labs and equipment. At full complement, the Institute will accommodate 80 to 100 individuals. Plans also provide dedicated space on each of the three research floors for private sector partners. Scientists from companies with commercial potential in the nutrisciences field will be able to develop their programs through access to the facilities, equipment and research collaboration offered by the Institute. After a period of incubation, successful industrial partners will leave the facility and continue to develop and expand in the private sector in the community.

"We are very proud of the research program and the team being built at the institute by our Lead Scientist Dr. Michael Mayne," said Acting NRC President Michael Raymont, noting that three internationally recognized research scientists recently joined the Institute and during its first few months, the Institute has succeeded in attracting its first external research grants, and has produced several scientific publications. "High-quality people are key to our ultimate goal of serving Canada."

Initial funding for the NRC-INH was announced in July 2003. Funding partners include NRC ($20 million over 5 years); ACOA ($8 million); and the province of PEI ($3.5 million). UPEI contributed the property for the facility.

Recognized globally for research and innovation, Canada's National Research Council (NRC) is a leader in the development of an innovative, knowledge-based economy for Canada through science and technology

A bright new star on the Canadian fiction horizon is Elizabeth Hay, whose latest novel, Garbo Laughs, was a fiction finalist for the Governor-General's Award. She will give a public reading in Charlottetown at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, January 27, at Confederation Centre Library.

Born in Owen Sound, Ontario, in 1951, she attended the University of Toronto, and worked for CBC Radio in Yellowknife, Winnipeg, and Toronto as a host, interviewer, and documentary maker, especially for "Sunday Morning." She also travelled extensively and lived abroad for eight years. A non-fiction book, Captivity Tales: Canadians in New York (1993) , grows out of her time in Manhattan.

Her short fiction collection, Small Change, was nominated for a Governor General's Award. Her first novel, A Student of Weather, set on a Depression-era farm in Saskatchewan, was a finalist for the Giller Prize. She has won a National Magazine Award Gold Medal for fiction, and received the 2002 Marian Engel Award, which honours a woman writer in mid-career.

Garbo Laughs is a funny-sad story set in Ottawa in the 1990s. The main character is caught between old movies and real life. Harriet Browning forms a Friday-night movie club with three classic film and old crooner buffs: a boy who loves Sinatra, a girl with Bette Davis eyes, and a pal named after Dinah Shore. Into this circle come two Hollywood refugees, their arrival coinciding with the devastating ice storm of 1998.

Elizabeth Hay's reading is sponsored by the UPEI English Department, with support from the Canada Council of the Arts and the cooperation of Confederation Centre Library. Admission is free. For further information phone 566-0389.