The Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington

I recently visited the Lilly Library http://www.indiana.edu/~liblilly/ part of Indiana University in Bloomington, as it holds unique items related to James Bond creator, Ian Fleming. The library bought Fleming's book collection shortly after his death in the 1960's: it includes his original copies of the Bond books, complete with handwritten notes. More unique items have been added to this collection over the years including original manuscripts of interviews conducted with Fleming's friends and family. I visited the Lilly Library in the hope of finding out a bit more about the Bond creator and why he wrote about this hero in the way that he did. Certainly the unrelenting excitement which surrounds the character of Bond as he completes his various missions is an experience that was craved by Fleming and my future research may delve into the writer's psyche and the origins of the Bond conventions, which we take as a given today.

South West Popular American Culture Association Conference

On Wednesday 19th February I presented my paper, For Queen and Country: James Bond and National Identity in the Daniel Craig era, as part of the James Bond, Espionage and Eurospy section at the South West Popular American Culture Association Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA - http://southwestpca.org/ 

As well as receiving positive feedback I also had a great time meeting fellow Bond enthusiasts and learning about their research into the field and I am now following the blogs of the panel chairs: Michele Brittany http://spyfi-superspies.blogspot.co.uk/ and Nicholas Diak http://heiligetod.blogspot.co.uk/

I was very honoured to be able to participate in debates about Bond issues with scholars who are in the process of publishing their work in book form or who have already done so, most notably in James Bond in World and Popular Culture: The Films are Not Enough, edited by Robert G. Weiner, with whom I also met. I am now looking to publish the paper I presented so watch this space!