Forthcoming Lectures and Talks

Apart from the Ibsen lecture, which is to be delivered to the Moot-With-No-Name on July 28th, the times and dates of my other talks are still to be finalised.

1. Cavalier Poets
The Art of Embracing Joy

David Parry is widely regarded as one of the most significant neo-pagan voices in contemporary literature. He is the Founder of “Gruntlers” Arts Group, an international circle of performers who celebrate Beauty, Freedom and Truth through the media of visionary verse, revolutionary film-making, openly political drama and experimental music. His recent adaptation of M.F. Akhundov’s Comedy The Botanist Monsieur Jordan And The Sorcerer-Dervish Mastali Shah was hailed by both the BBC as well as Trend News Agency as a triumph. Certainly, in this talk, Parry intends to contextualise the art of joy, while exploring the wise and often humorous legacy of those roistering English gallants who searched for the significance of bliss.
Cavalier poetry, according to Parry, is not simply a broad description of 17th Century Royalist verse, but a lifestyle and distinctive spirituality; characterised by the cultivation of highly sophisticated states of qualitative consciousness. Indeed, by their dedication to short and direct poetry, Parry claims that this school of writers opposed the overly complex imagery and metaphysical abstruseness of their Roundhead rivals, in order to reveal the meaning behind their motto “Carpe Diem’, usually translated as “seize the day”. Unarguably, a call to literary arms for men such as Ben Jonson, Robert Herrick and Thomas Carew.
Spend an evening with David Parry as his signature wit and unrepentantly contrarian approach to orthodox literary theory celebrates the work of some truly remarkable English poets. At the same time, journey along with his suspicion that it is becoming ever more necessary to recover our long established sense of frivolity. After all, according to Parry, once we share in the Cavalier ideal that life is a mystery within which every man, woman and child participates, we too will realise that this world is far too enjoyable to be simply classified as a philosophical problem in need of resolution.

2. Henrik Ibsen and the Nordic Tradition

Universally hailed as a "godfather" to modern drama, as well as the founder of Modernist theatre, Ibsen scandalised his audiences by actively besieging Victorian attitudes to both family and social propriety. However, in this talk, Parry will argue that there are even deeper and more disquieting levels to Ibsen's penetrating insight into European spiritual paralysis. After all, in Plays such as "Ghosts" and "The Master Builder" theatregoers were confronted by the conflict between openly Heathen notions of freedom and the cultural hypocrisy of stagnant religious institutions, desperate to suppress any form of self-realisation. During the course of this evenings deliberations, therefore, Parry will contextualise Ibsen's text and stagecraft in order to reveal the Playwrites rightful position within the tradition of Nordic Letters.

3. Thor Heyerdahl, Heathenism, and the Forgotten History of Azerbaijan

Taking elements from Parry’s forthcoming book on contemporary Heathenism, “Anarchy in Green”, this lecture will revisit the groundbreaking work of Heyerdahl as both explorer and radical historian. Starting with Heyerdahl’s pioneering “Kon-Tiki” expedition, it is Parry’s intention to rapidly move to Heyerdahl’s fascination with early rock carvings at Gobustan (about 40 miles (64 km) southwest of the centre of Baku) in order to explore claims that surprisingly similar carvings may be found across Scandinavia. Following this, Parry will examine Norse Folk tradition as a way to unfold Heyerdahl’s argument contending that Caucasian tribal migrations can be traced back to Azerbaijan as their focal point and not Northern Europe as ideologically blinked medieval scholars asserted. Indeed, Parry’s aim in this talk is to celebrate the icy origin of Viking valour, while revealing its indebtedness to the “Land of Fire”.

4. Russian Romantics and the Heathen Revival

Examining the literary legacy of gifted authors such as Lermentov, Pushkin and Tyutchev does little to uncover the radicalising influence on North European spirituality. Yet by articulating the metaphysical discontents of their time, these authors drew attention to military insecurity, industrial slavery and the narcotising effects of popular entertainment. In this lecture, therefore, Parry will explore the unsuspected cultural impact of these Slavonic Romantics on their European readerships as well as the part they played in awakening the Nordic Folk Spirit.