Homer Appreciation Day

Overview

Homer Appreciation Day: Recent Scholarship and Creative Engagement with Living Epic

University of Waterloo | Friday, April 24, 2026 | Hybrid Event

Event Poster: Download the Homer Appreciation Day Poster (PDF)

The Waterloo Institute for Hellenistic Studies (WIHS) is pleased to announce, in co-operation with the UW Department of Classical Studies, the creative journal Epic Threads, and the DRAGEN Lab at St. Jerome’s University a full day dedicated to the appreciation of Homer’s narrative and poetic gift through cutting-edge scholarship and creative engagement.

As a first of its kind, this event will bring together scholars, storytellers, and students from North America, Europe, and Australia for a dynamic exploration of the Homeric epics across disciplines and modes of engagement.

Academic papers will be dedicated to the production of early epic, with particular attention to how Homer reshaped pre-existing narratives and responded to the experience of far-travelled sailors. Likewise of interest will be the reception of Homeric poetry in later times, especially the Hellenistic period. 

The day’s creative program will feature Jeff Wright’s The Full Disclosure Iliad, followed by a brief interview on contemporary Homeric storytelling. It will also include Re-Creation with Homer, a session dedicated to imaginative and critical engagement with Homeric epic, as well as a reenactment of necromancy inspired by Homeric traditions. In addition, prizes totalling $1,000 (CAD) will be awarded for the best student performances of the day and the most compelling submissions to Epic Threads 2, 2026.

The event is open to all, free to attend, and will include lunch and refreshments throughout the day for those joining us in person, offering an excellent opportunity for conversation, collaboration, and community-building across academic and creative worlds.

Whether you are a scholar of antiquity, a creative writer, a student, or simply curious about why Homer still matters, Homer Appreciation Day invites you to join a vibrant, interdisciplinary celebration of the ancient epic tradition.

Program Schedule

All times listed are Eastern Time (Toronto/Waterloo).

8:45–9:00 — Welcome

I. Odysseus, the Travelling Trickster

9:00–11:00

• Jonathan Burgess (Toronto): Odysseus' True if Supernatural Wanderings, False but Realistic Travel Tales, and Gladstone's Cognitive Map of the “Wanderings”.
• Phil de Souza (Dublin, via Zoom): Odysseus the Pirate.
• Karol Zieliński (Wrocław, via Zoom): The Homeric Changes to the Traditional Image of Odysseus.

11:00–11:20 — Break

II. Homer through the Ages

11:20–12:40

• Ivana Petrovic (Charlottesville, VA): Literary and Visual Representations of Homer in the Hellenistic Age.
• Joel Christensen (New York, via Zoom): Why Odysseus? The Reception of the Odyssey in the 21st Century.

12:40–1:30 — Lunch Break

III. A 21st-Century Homeric Bard

1:30–2:45

• Jeff Wright (Ottawa): The Full Disclosure Iliad.
  Followed by a brief interview with Jeff Wright.

2:45–3:00 — Break

IV. Symbolic Thresholds in the Iliad and Odyssey

3:00–5:00

• Ben Scolnic (Hamden, CT, via Zoom): The Walls of Troy: Magical Defenses in Ancient Sieges.
• Naomi Neufeld Folkes (Hamilton, ON): Spatial Imagination and Mobility in Homer’s Odyssey.
• Altay Coskun (Waterloo): Skylla and Charybdis – Migrating Gates to the Other-World.

V. Re-Creation with Homer

5:00–6:00

• Madelynne Parish (Waterloo): Chilling – and Playing – with Homer.

VI. Encountering the Dead with Homer

6:00–7:10

• Eva Anagnostou-Laoutides (Sydney, via Zoom): Homer’s Underworld and Triangles of Death.
• Bridget Martin (Dublin): Bringing Homer Alive by Talking to the Dead: Practising Necromancy.

7:10–7:30 — Concluding Remarks

Announcement of the 2026 Epic Threads Competition Winners

Hosts

• Dr. Altay Coşkun, Professor Classical Studies, Director of the Waterloo Institute for Hellenistic Studies, editor of the Unheard Voices of the Past and academic advisor to Epic Threads.
• Dr. Andrew Faulkner, Professor and Chair of Classical Studies at Waterloo, Senior Editor of Phoenix, and author of Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite (2008).
• Ms. Madelynne Parish, BA Hon. Cand. in Physics & Astronomy with a Minor in Classical Studies and co-editor of Epic Threads.

Confirmed Contributors

• Dr. Eva Anagnostou-Laoutides, Associate Professor of Classical Studies at Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia, Vice-President of the Australian Numismatic Society.
• Dr. Jonathan Burgess, Professor Emeritus of Classical Studies at the University of Toronto, author of The Travels of Odysseus (2024) and creator of the website Wake of Odysseus – Localization of the Journey of Odysseus.
• Dr. Joel Christensen, Professor of Classics at CUNY graduate center, author of The Many-Minded Man: the Odyssey, Psychology, and the Therapy of Epic (2020) and the Homer-centred Classics blog SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE – ΕΥΔΟΞΑ ΑΓΝΩΣΤΑ ΚΑΤΑΓΕΛΑΣΤΑ.
• Dr. Phil de Souza, Associate Professor of Classics at University College, Dublin, author of Seafaring and Civilization (2001) and Piracy in the Graeco-Roman World (1999).
• Dr. Bridget Martin, Lecturer of Classics at University College, Dublin.
• Dr. Naomi Neufeld Folkes, lecturer in Classical Studies at McMaster University and the University of Waterloo.
• Dr. Ivana Petrovič, Professor of Classics at the University of Virginia, author of The Materiality of Texts (2018) and Ancient Greek Literary Epigram (2019).
• Rabbi Dr. Ben Scolnic, leader of the Beth Sholom Temple, Hamden, CT, Adjunct Professor at Southern Connecticut State University, co-host of the Seleukid Lecture Series and the main voice behind the Unheard Voices of the Past, including the series Homer and the School of Rhapsodes.
• Mr. Jeff Wright, BA Waterloo, professional storyteller based in Ottawa and the prize-winner creator of Trojan War: the Podcast and Odyssey: the Podcast.
• Dr. Karol Zieliński, Professor of Classics at Wroclaw University, Poland, author of The Iliad and the oral epic tradition (2023).

RSVP

Please email Dr. Altay Coskun at: altay.coskun@uwaterloo.ca (before April 10th)

Please check this page again for Zoom access information.

If you are planning to attend in person, an RSVP will help us plan seating and catering (lunch and refreshments will be provided).