Our FLSW, member of the General Purposes Committee and Bangor University representative, Prof. Raluca Radulescu, has been elected President of the International Arthurian Society (https://ias-sia-iag.org/2024/07/23/general-assembly-of-the-society-and-next-congress/) at the 27^th International Arthurian Congress held at the University of Marseille-Aix-en-Provence in July.

At the same event she was also invited to give one of the plenary lectures from her research on the cross-over between fiction and history in the production and reception of Arthurian narratives in England, some of which will be published in the forthcoming Cambridge History of Arthurian Literature and Culture, [2 volumes, 60 chapters, co-ed. Raluca Radulescu and Prof. Andrew Lynch, University of Western Australia (2025).] Prof. Radulescu’s extensive research covers all aspects of medieval literature and culture examined from a trans-European comparative  perspective (see her The Routledge Companion to Medieval English Literature in a Trans-European Context, co-ed. with Prof. Sif Rikhardsdottir, University of Iceland, and Executive Director of the New Chaucer Society (Routledge, 2023)), including the manuscript (material) and political culture in which texts were written.

The IAS is a scholarly society that will soon celebrate its centenary; it has a membership of over 1,000 from all continents, from over 50 countries and 120 universities. The work of the society encompasses literatures in languages from across the globe, from the medieval period to the present day. Prof. Radulescu served previously as President of the British and Irish branch of the same society (2015-18) and elected editor, for two terms, of its international peer-reviewed journal and annual bibliography of over 700 items (2011-2017).

Professor Radulescu’s term is for three years (2024-27) and, in this capacity, she will also continue to represent the tradition developed by leading figures in Celtic and Arthurian studies at Bangor University, from the inception of the university to the present day.

This tradition will be celebrated at a public event in the series of Bangor University’s 140^th annniversary, hosted in Pontio, the Arts Centre at Bangor University, and co-sponsored by LSW and Bangor University. The event will showcase the long-standing Bangor University Archives and Special Collections in the work of the Centre for Arthurian Studies (https://www.bangor.ac.uk/centre-for-arthurian-studies), including the central role played by local donors in North Wales in establishing the university library.