15th January, 2023
Dear Conradians,

It is a great honor to begin my term as President of the Joseph Conrad Society of America, a position that has never before been held by a scholar outside the USA. I enter the role with seriousness, responsibility and hope. I am humbled by the role and grateful to have been chosen to serve.

I would like to share with you my vision for the future. Seismic changes are unfolding before our eyes – pandemics, climate change and natural disasters, political polarization and the erosion of human rights. Such changes are accompanied by the dwindling of academic investment in English departments and the undervaluing of literary scholarship and the Humanities. In addition, Joseph Conrad scholarship is suffering from the tendency in popular and academic discourse alike to dismiss or marginalize canonical authors. That Conrad was himself an immigrant, a subject of colonial power and abuse, is a fact that uncannily disappears under the label of “dead white male.” His name all too often triggers a knee-jerk reaction: ‘a bloody racist’ – a voice to be silenced. 

My aim is not to excuse or justify our interest in the artist and his works but to reframe our engagement with it. I want, with your help, to explore new ways of talking about Conrad, ways that offer important insights into his work, that demonstrate the value of literary scholarship and of thinking and reading together. Together, I know we can increase Conrad’s visibility inside and outside academia. Within academic circles I would like to finds ways to appeal to new graduate and undergraduate students and encourage their participation in the field; I would like to plan events that are accessible to professors and students alike and create more interactive networks that will allow us to hold discussions, share work and offer one another feedback. At the same time, I would like to bring more lay readers into our Conradian circles. Many people outside academia read and enjoy Conrad’s work. I would like to use outreach in order to bring them into our discussions. I hope to find ways to support an online infrastructure that would be more interactive and inviting.

I would be very grateful for your feedback and ideas. I believe that we can be more effective if we pool our resources. I also think that by working together we will be able to support and encourage one another as we face challenges both professional and personal.

With wishes for a healthy, safe, productive and joyous new year.
Yael