Well, we're done.
On behalf of the organization, thanks to everybody.
It's been so nice to have you around.
Thanks to our keynote speakers, to the people talking in the round tables, to
every lecturer, chairs, friends, to the people attending the conference and to the
students who have been such a great aid for the organization. Good job!
It would
be such a long list if we start mentioning everybody, so we'll keep it
in secret. But you all know that we really mean it when we say that we feel grateful that you came and contribute to our conference.
We hope that everybody had a safe trip traveling back home
and... only one last wish: See you next time!
Ondo izan!
By the way, in that picture that you have above, you only see some of us there in the City Hall reception. We were a bigger
group. Some of you skipped this event because you were tired or eager
to work on your presentations but we didn't forget you when we were giving thanks to all of you.
In the following days, I'll try to upload more pictures. You are invited to send any picture you may want to share with us to rewest2014@gmail.com and I'll make a selection.
Once again, thanks to everybody for such a great job! Mila esker guztioi!!
After taking some time for adjustments and revisions, here is the final program for the III International Conference The American Literary West to be held in Vitoria-Gasteiz this next October. From the 8th to the 10th we'll be glad to hear so many stimulating papers and also that we'll have the chance to see old friends and make new ones. It is our aspiration that these three days are a great opportunity for networking, scholarly improvement and a contribution to the study of Western American Literature and Culture. And we are sure that you'll agree with us when you see the roster that we have the pleasure to announce right now; click down there, in the words in bold, and you'll get direct access to the program in pdf format:
A month for the big day and it is about time to start getting ready for it.
Click in the link that you'll find at the end of this post and you'll have direct access to our first tentative program. We are open to study changes and variations whenever possible and justified. So check your slot and title and if you have any comment to do you can always get back to us at rewest2014@gmail.com.
More information about rooms and chairs will be given when the final program is published.
And, please, don't forget to complete your registration before coming to Vitoria-Gasteiz. And remember that we are already here and almost ready to give you a warm welcome and share this experience with you.
Please click on the capitalized word PROGRAM to have access to the file.
And, as we always do, you can enjoy some music while you take a look to the program, so feel free to press the play button and have some fun listening to...
Registration for the American Literary West III International Conference (to be held in Vitoria-Gasteiz in October 8-10 2014) will be completed through a new telematic platform
sponsored by the University of the Basque Country. Thus, we aim at ensuring
that the process is safe and efficient. However, before we give you some more explanations on how to complete the process, take a look to the fee table:
Rates per fee and period
Early bird
(07/04/2014 - 15/09/2014)
Late registration
(16/09/2014 - 07/10/2014)
Presenter - Regular
90,00€
125,00€
Attendee - Student
20,00€
20,00€
Presenter - Post Graduate
75,00€
100,00€
Attendee
80,00€
80,00€
Please, keep this fee table as the right one. There is one error in the English version of the website. The fees for attendees and student attendees are incorrect in the website. We'll correct it as soon as possible.
At the bottom of this informative post, you will find a
direct link to the official website. The process can be done in three different
languages (Spanish, Basque or English), so first make your choice. Then you
just need to follow the instructions and fill in the required information.
When you proceed to
make the payment, you will observe that you have two different options.
The first one is the
online option. You will be directed to a payment platform that keeps all the
necessary standards to guarantee that the process is safe.This is a credit card payment online, so you
will be asked to give some specific information about your credit card.
The second option is
called offline payment and it gives you the option to choose other paying
methods. If you choose this option you will receive an email with all the
information that you need in order to proceed to pay by using any of the
following methods: bank transfer, at your bank, again through the same online
platform but completing the boxes with the information that you have received
by email or paying via ATM or cash point.
Probably, the easiest
way to go would be to pay by credit card and that is why we tried to launch
this new platform and make the whole process safe and accessible. Still, you
are free to choose the option that is more convenient for you. If you choose the bank transfer option please make sure that your payment is indentifiable by adding a message such as ALW14 and your last name so that we easily see that it was your transfer that we got.
Please, note that
registration is not final until payment is received. Again, remember that you
need to complete your registration and the subsequent payment before attending
the conference. For early bird registrations payment must be sent by the
deadline date.
Conference Banquet
Finally, we are happy
to announce that we were able to organize a friendly and tasty banquet to
celebrate that the conference is over. We will schedule the program so that we
are done by Friday at lunchtime. Thus the final banquet will be at 3 o’clock pm
the 10th of October 2014. If you want to get more information so
that you make up your mind, please follow the two links that you will find
after the one to go for registration and there you will find more information
on the restaurant and the menu that we have booked. Just as a tip, we will be
honored if you finally choose to come and just let us remind you that Basque
cuisine is regarded as one of the best gastronomic experiences one can enjoy.
In a recent article by The New York Times, they said what follows about Basque
cuisine: “For the last decade, Basque cuisine has held a vaunted status in the
culinary world.” Feel free to join us and experience it!
REGISTRATION.Click here to go to the official website. Or copy paste the following web address:
https://www.ehu.es/ehuordainketak/Inscripciones/datos.php?codCongreso=17
Restaurant.Click here
to get more information or copy-paste the following web address: http://www.restaurantearkupe.com/
Menu.Click here to go
to google drive and check the menus.
The American Literary West III International Conference will take place on October 2014. From the 8th to the 10th of that month we would be delighted if you had a chance to come to Vitoria-Gasteiz and participate in our conference. For those of you who are presenting a paper or those of you who are planning to come, we want to give you some tips so that you can start planning your trip.
In what follows, you will find information on how to get to Vitoria-Gasteiz and, if needed, where to stay. If you have any further inquiry, don't hesitate to ask. You can either use the email address for the conference or just write your comment here.
In short, we will be updating this blog so that you can find more information on how to register for our conference and any other additional announcement we'd need to make. Please, stay tuned and if you have questions, use any of the channels that we already mentioned before.
And, just as we usually do, if you feel like listening to some music while you read all this information, let me tell you that we are happy to invite you to listen to Willy Vlautin's last music challenge. Right at the bottom of this entry you'll find a link to listen to his last band, The Delines, from youtube.com. If you want to listen to more music by The Delines, click here.
Vitoria-Gasteiz has very good train connections. If you are train
traveling lover, you may want to check the RENFEwebsite (national railway company) and see if train traveling
is your best option to come to Vitoria-Gasteiz. If you choose to fly, you will
need to use more than one means of transport because you can’t make it right to
Vitoria-Gasteiz by plane. Vitoria-Gasteiz has its own airport but this is only
use for freight transport at the moment. You can go for any of the two
following travel plans if you are choosing this travel option:
From Bilbao
If you are flying, probably, the best (meaning cheapest) way to get to
Vitoria-Gasteiz is to fly to Bilbao InternationalAirport. This is the nearest airport with international
connections. If you are flying overseas then you’ll probably have to travel in
two steps, via Paris, Frankfurt, Madrid or London. It is also worth mentioning
that there are some low-fare companies operating to and from Bilbao (Easyjet,
Air Berlin, Vueling…)
If you feel like coming right to Vitoria-Gasteiz after you landed in
Bilbao, you’ll need to go first to Termibus, Bilbao’s main bus station. There,
you’ll be able to catch a bus to Vitoria-Gasteiz. But before that, you need to
come from Bilbao International Airport to the city center, which is about half
an hour away from the airport. You can easily catch a shuttle bus from the one
and only bus stop that you’ll find outside arrivals. The ticket is cheap and
you pay directly at the bus. They come every 20-30 minutes and the ride only
takes about 20-25 minutes. You have to stay on the bus until the last stop in
Bilbao, which is that of Termibus. You can check the schedules here. The only other way to get from the Airport to
Termibus would be to take a taxi (a bit faster, but much more expensive, around
20-30 euros).
Once in Termibus, you can take a bus to Vitoria-Gasteiz. The company
running these buses is called LaUnión, and you can check the schedules here. Direct buses
take around one hour and it will amount for about 6 euros. You have to buy your
tickets at the La Unión ticket booth in Termibus.
Tip: we wouldn’t recommend you to get a taxi from Bilbao to
Vitoria-Gasteiz. Vitoria-Gasteiz is about sixty miles away from Bilbao and it
would be very expensive to make that trip by taxi.
From Madrid
Another option would be to fly to Madrid first. In that case, there are
two options available for you:
1)To arrive to Vitoria-Gasteiz by train. You need first
to travel from the Adolfo Suarez International Airport (formerly known as
Barajas) to Chamartín train station by metro. Take metro line 8 to Mar de
Cristal and from there then take line 4 to Pinar de Chamartín first and then
line 1 to Chamartín. Once in Chamartín Railway Station you can take a train to
Vitoria-Gasteiz. There are around seven trains connecting Madrid and
Vitoria-Gasteiz every day and prices range from 40 to 60 euros approximately.
The trip takes around three to five hours. You can check schedules and prices here. And if you want to check the metro timetable, you can visit the
following website: metro Madrid.
2)To arrive to Vitoria-Gasteiz by bus. The company
running the buses from Madrid to Vitoria-Gasteiz is called Alsa. You have a ticket
office at Adolfo Suarez International Airport (Barajas) but these buses leaving
from the airport run only from Madrid to Bilbao. You can buy a ticket to
Vitoria-Gasteiz, but you’ll probably have to make a stop in Bilbao. There are
only a few buses making this trip from the airport to Bilbao and they won’t
probably fit with your flying plans. If these is so, you’ll have to do the
following:
If you want to travel directly to Vitoria-Gasteiz or
you couldn’t make it on time to take one of the buses leaving from the airport,
you need to go first to Madrid Bus Station in Avenida de América. There is a metro line from the Airport to Avenida de
América. You need to take metro line number 8 to Colombia and then metro line 9
to Avenida de América. In any case, you can go to metro Madrid official website
by using the link that I gave you before. And, of course, you can also take a
taxi cab. The trip from Madrid to Vitoria-Gasteiz takes around four hours and a
half and the ticket is 27-30 euros approx. There are many buses every day and
tickets can be bought at the bus station or online.
Once in
Vitoria-Gasteiz
The American Literary West III International Conference will take place
at the Faculty of Arts of the University of the Basque Country (check the
website if you want to know more about us: Faculty of Arts).
All distances (from bus or train stations or from most of the hotels to
the conference venue, also from the conference venue to the old town, the city
center or shopping areas) are all walking distances, sometimes, even in
pedestrian ways.
Vitoria-Gasteiz is a friendly city, well known for its many running
lovers, an easy-to-bike city and it is appreciated and celebrated for its green
areas and parklands (in 2012, the city was awarded the European Green Capital recognition).
So get ready to make a lot of walking and forget about subways and taxi cabs.
However, since 2008, the city enjoys a tramwaysystem that can be very useful if your hotel happens to be
in a distant area.
Where to Stay in
Vitoria-Gasteiz
Vitoria-Gasteiz has a good range of lodging possibilities. In the
following table, you’ll find a list of hotels, hotel ratings, the average room
prices for an individual room (you better check this again before choosing one
or the other), estimated distance to the conference venue and a link to the
corresponding website so that you can book your room. Please, remember that we
do not have any kind of agreement with any of these hotels and you are free to
choose. Of course, our list here is not accurate or interested. You can check
the whole list that Vitoria-Gasteiz City Council proposes to every tourist
coming to visit the city here.
Before we copy here the aforementioned list of hotels, please, remember
that if you want to stay in Bilbao or Donostia-San Sebastián before or after
the conference, you may want to check the official websites to get more
information (you can do it here and here). We don’t recommend to stay in any of these two cities
and then commute to the conference. That would mean about an hour from Bilbao
and an hour and half from Donostia-San Sebastián every day.
If the following table is too small for you to have a good reading, you’ll
find another copy on pdf format at the end of this entry.
Please, remember that prices are in euros, distances
in minutes and that we highly recommend to check again prices and availability
by visiting the corresponding websites.
(copy
this link if needed and paste it in your search bar)
Just in case you have any trouble with the direct links we offered
within the text, here you have a complete list of all the websites we have
recommended to visit:
Metro Madrid: http://www.metromadrid.es/es/index.html
ALSA Bus Company: http://www.alsa.es/en/
Avenida de América
Bus: http://www.spain.info/es/informacion-practica/transportes/estaciones-autobus/madrid/estacion_de_autobuses_de_avenida_de_america.html
Faculty of Arts: http://www.ehu.es/en/web/letrak/home
