Another day in Norwich.  And what have I learnt? Well, a good panel on US TV series, including a subversive reading of Dexter and a revisionist view of 1970s/80s Slasher flics (yes, the Hollywood studios aimed them at young women as well as men, just look at the marketing material for Friday the 13th as well as Carrie), a trio of papers on the role of women in the antebellum south, and another set of papers on southern honour, absentee landlords and drinking among slave societies.  I also got the chance to chat a little about the BL's holdings of early American official papers, newspapers (always in demand) and journals and letters by C17th settlers.  

There was also Professor David Reynold's Eccles lecture on popular history, which engagingly talked about his experiences of writing and presenting Radio 4's 'America: Empire of Liberty'.  He talked about the process of writing and rewriting, and how the production team would ask him what he meant - when he thought it was perfectly clear (he was very happy to rewrite).  It reminded me, on a much smaller scale, of producing labels and texts for exhibitions at the Library.  Here's a photo of Prof. Reynolds taking some questions:

 

This was followed by a meal, and a host of BAAS awards (best book, travel awards and so on), as well as a bunch of Eccles Fellowships (we were able to sit on the same table as several recipients, and begin to talk about some of the BL resources that may be of use).  A picture of one of the recipients (a bit blurred, I'm afraid):

 

(and, yes, I did track down some food last night.)

[M.S.]