The New Mexico Humanities Council will provide funding to support the Fourth Annual D. H. Lawrence Lecture. Coinciding with the 2020 International D.H. Lawrence Conference in Taos, the Lawrence Lecture will present the world premiere of Lawrence’s play, “Altitude.” Dr. James Moran, Professor of Modern English Literature and Drama at the University of Nottingham, with the help of ten Taoseño thespians, will stage the two-act, unfinished play. Written in 1924, “Altitude” is a satiric look at Lawrence’s life during his time in Taos.
Each year, the D.H. Lawrence Ranch Initiatives (DHLRI) hosts an event focusing on scholarship on D. H. Lawrence. The Department of English Language and Literature and the University of New Mexico have an abiding interest in Lawrence due to their ownership of the D.H. Lawrence Ranch in Taos, New Mexico and Lawrence’s stature as one of the most important writers of the twentieth century. The Lawrence Lecture Series is an annual outreach event sponsored by the D. H. Lawrence Ranch Initiatives (DHLRI), a public service program housed in the Department of English Language and Literature at the University of New Mexico. Fundamental to the mission of the D. H. Lawrence Ranch Initiatives is the preservation of the Ranch property and its historic buildings. The Ranch Initiatives program seeks to place the operation of the Ranch on a firm financial basis and to restore and develop the site so that it can support significant educational, cultural, artistic, and research activities for the benefit of New Mexicans and others from around the country and the world. In July 2020, the International D.H. Lawrence Conference will take place in Taos, NM. The supporting partners for the conference include the D.H. Lawrence Society of North America, The D.H. Lawrence Ranch Initiatives (DHLRI), the UNM English Department, and other international D.H. Lawrence societies. To amplify the reach and impact of the D.H. Lawrence Lecture we have decided to change our timeline (from April to July) and present our annual program as a public event during the conference.
The fourth D. H. Lawrence Lecturer is Dr. James Moran, Professor of Modern English Literature and Drama at the University of Nottingham, UK. With the help of ten Taoseño thespians, Dr. Moran will stage the world premiere of Lawrence’s unfinished two-act play, “Altitude.” Written in 1924, “Altitude” takes a satiric look at Lawrence’s life during his time in Taos. The unfinished work explores the discrepancy between the Anglo idealization of the Indian way of life and the often-inherent disregard Anglos have for the Indians themselves. The characters in the play include well-known figures from Taos history: Mabel Dodge Luhan, Spud Johnson, Tony Luhan, Frieda Lawrence and D. H. Lawrence, himself. Dr. Moran will direct and advise the ten characters, played by Taos community members and will offer a short talk prior to the performance entitled ‘D. H. Lawrence and Coterie Performance.’ Dr. Moran and the actors will facilitate a talkback afterwards. The event will take place at Old Martina’s Hall in Los Ranchos de Taos, on Tuesday, July 14, 2020 at 7:30pm.
This year, Professor Emerita Sharon Warner and the D.H. Lawrence Ranch Initiative received generous funding from the New Mexico Humanities Council in support of the production and presentation of the Fourth Annual D.H. Lawrence Lecture.
