Baltimore, MD -- UMBC is proud to host the 10th Annual Conference on Virginia Woolf, a four day excursion into the influence of Woolf's work on contemporary art and in the humanities, featuring scholarly panels, performances, readings, and art exhibitions. Virginia Woolf Out of Bounds, organized by Dr. Jessica Berman, assistant professor of English, is a component of the larger conference and a cultural examination of the work and influence of one of the most famous literary figures of the last century.

Featured guests include writer Michael Cunningham, winner of both the PEN/Faulkner Award and Pulitzer Prize for his novel The Hours which uses Woolf's novel Mrs. Dalloway to address contemporary social issues. Also featured will be an exhibition of paintings by Australian artist Suzanne Bellamy from her series "Shapes of the Brain: A Geography of the Senses," a staged reading of Woolf's The Waves, and a performance of original music by composer Joyce Zymeck. These cultural events are free and open to the public.

Many panels throughout the conference will include scholars such as the feminist writer Susan Gubar and the award-winning author Susan Stanford Friedman. Other featured speakers include: Jeanette McVicker, Janet Winston and Sonita Sarker on "Woolf and the City;" and Vara Nevrow and Jane Lilienfeld on "Woolf and the Unlikely Other." Satyajit Ray's film Charulata will be the subject of a panel on Bloomsbury and post-colonialism, and will be screened to registered participants.

Virginia Woolf Out of Bounds was made possible in part with funds from the Maryland Humanities Council, through a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. While select cultural events are open and free to the public, the main conference requires a fee and registration. For more information or to register for this event, please visit www.umbc.edu/woolf or call (410) 455-2336.