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FROM THE EDITORS...

        The three-day Sixth AIZEN International Conference and Fourth International Film Festival, held at California State University, Los Angeles, last October was attended by more than 50 participants from Brazil, Canada, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Tunisia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

        The AIZEN extends a special thank you to Professor Joseph Chrzanowski, Chair of the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures at Cal State, LA, for his assistance in making the Conference a success.

        The visit of Larry Cohen, American filmmaker, was one of the high points of the 1997 Conference and we are grateful to Prof. Chrzanowski for contacting the media and arranging to have the reception videotaped. Thank you, too, to Larry Cohen for addressing the participants and later joining them for a special screening in the magnificent theater of Cal State, LA, of his latest film, Original Gangstas. Tony Williams’ introduction included commentary on his new book, Larry Cohen, The Radical Allegories of an Independent Filmmaker. Our special thanks to Tony for making this special appearance and screening happen.

        During this same reception, the AIZEN Award for the Best Graduate Student Paper was presented by Professor Monique Fol to Sara Beliveau of Brown University. Congratulations again to Sara, whose article was published in Excavatio, Vol. XI.

        The Seventh AIZEN International Conference, September 22-25, 1998 is being hosted by the Department of French, University of Glasgow, chaired by Dr. Angus J Kennedy to whom we extend our thanks for his cooperation and support. We look forward to his introductory remarks during the opening session. More than 40 participants from Canada, the USA, the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Spain, Portugal, Denmark, Italy, Belgium, Tunisia and South Korea will be discussing Emile Zola, naturalism and the influence of naturalism in diverse countries. Three new panels are being introduced: L’Argent, The Dreyfus Affair and European Naturalism. Special guest of honor will be Richard Boston, an experienced broadcaster, journalist and essayist. His book of essays, Starkness at Noon, was recently published by Five Leaves. He is currently working on a book about Cézanne and Zola. His masterly article on the Dreyfus Affair, "A Glorious Accusation," was published in the Guardian in January of 1998; arrangements will be made for conference participants to obtain it on demand. Sessions will be held in the Theatre of the Modern Languages Building, at Scotland Street School Museum and at the Burrell Collection Art Gallery, Pollak Country Park.

        The AIZEN Award for Best Graduate Student Paper will be presented during a Civic reception at City Chambers of Glasgow on September 24th. A conference Dinner will take place after that at the Piping Centre, McPhater Street, Glasgow. A coach excursion to take in some of the natural beauty of Scotland has been organized for September 26th.

        In addition to the AIZEN this Conference is sponsored by the University of Glasgow French and German Publications, the Emile Zola Society, and the Institut Français de Londres.

        Accommodations for the Conference have been arranged in Queen Margaret Hall, Bellshaugh Rd., Kirklee, Glasgow, an eight-minute walk from the Modern Languages Building where the papers will be heard. The cost of bed and breakfast in a single student room with all facilities is £21.50. Dinner on the 22nd and 23rd (£8.50 per person) will be available in Queen Margaret Hall.

        The City College of San Francisco (enrollment of 80,000 students) will be hosting the Eighth AIZEN International Conference and 5th Naturalist Film Festival, October 7-9, 1999 (See Call for Papers). Our thanks to Professor Jacquelyn W. Green, Chair of the Foreign Language Department, and Professor Robert Singer, who made all the arrangements. The sessions will be held on Phelan Campus not far from downtown. We hope to organize a "Naturalist Supper" in a French Restaurant and a Bay Cruise to Tiberon and Sausalito.

Our special thanks to the University of Alberta, especially Terry Butler, Director of Technologies for Learning Centre, Professor Don Bruce, Acting Chair of the Department of Modern Languages and Cultural Studies, Professor George Lang, Associate Dean of the Faculty of Arts, and Professor Patricia Clements, Dean of the Faculty of Arts for financial support in the development of the AIZEN website.

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        Volume XI of Excavatio is now available. It contains 27 articles, a book presentation by Donna M. Campbell, Resisting Regionalism: Gender and Naturalism in American Fiction, 1885-1915, Tony Williams’ presentation of Larry Cohen and his work, illustrations and photos from the sixth AIZEN International Conference Emile Zola and Naturalism, and Fourth AIZEN International Film Festival. We encourage all Naturalist scholars to order a copy of this volume.

        Professors Fol and Gural-Migdal are presently working on the editing of a collection of naturalist essays to be published at the end of 1999.

        For the year 2000, the AIZEN is already looking toward its 10th Anniversary with the International Conference being hosted by the University of Alberta, Canada. Many special events are already planned. For the first time, we will have participants from Poland to the Ukraine! Our film Festival will include films of Robert Singer, our Executive Director. The last day of the Conference will be spent in the Rocky Mountains. We look forward to meeting you in Alberta to commemorate this special anniversary.