EtE74th-6thDecember2015York,UK

TheYorkMarriottHotelprovidedthecomfortableandwelcomingvenuefortheseventhExploringtheExtraordinaryconference.TheEtENetwork,startedbyDrMadeleineCastroandDrHannahGilbert,returnedtoitsoriginsafterlastyear’sexcursiontoGettysburgUniversity inPennsylvania.ThiswasmythirdEtEandsharedkeyfeatureswiththeothers.1. It is truly interdisciplinary, with speakers from psychology, sociology,

anthropology, geography, drama, theology and religious studies, history,philosophy, and I’m sure more besides. In many conferences this varietymeansthatthereareareasofinterestandareasthatareoflessinterest.Thatwasnotthecase–Isatthroughall23papersovertwoandahalfdays,andenjoyed and learned from each one. The variety of style, content andapproachkeptusgoing.

2. Thereisnoparticulartheme,otherthanExploringtheExtraordinary,sothe

rangeofpaperswaseclectic–butsomehowitworks.3. Whilenumberswerelowerthanatthepreviousconferences,perhapsdueto

its move from the Easter holidays to a term-time slot, as at previous EtEconferences, therewas little or no division into speakers and ‘others’. Thecontributionsfromthefloorplayedaveryimportantpartinthediscussionsandprovidedsomecontinuitythroughthedifferentsessions.

4. The atmospherewas great – it is delightful to bewith like-minded people.

Therewasnograndstanding,andIhopeallthosewhocamefeltwelcomed–I’msurenewfriendshipswereforgedandnetworksmadeandstrengthened.

5. There was a mixture of postgraduate students, established academics at

variousstagesoftheircareers,practitionersandindependentscholars.Somepeoplefitintomorethanonecategory.ItwasgreattohaveparticipantsfromNorthAmericaaswellastheUK.

6. Lastbutnotleast,thestandardofpresentationwasuniformlyhigh.The conference booklet contains abstracts of the talks, but cannot convey thesense of fun and sometimes virtuosic nature of the presentations. While it is

invidious to pick out favourites, as I genuinely enjoyed all the papers, RichardSaville-Smith’s critiqueofpsychiatric approaches tohearingvoices, anddramateacher and novelist Chris Lambert’s interweaving of autobiography, myth,fictionandreligionwerecertainlymemorable.Vimeorecordingsfrompreviousconferences are available on the EtE website, and in due course thepresentationsfromEtE7willnodoubtbeadded.ArumourhasitthatareturntotheUSAisonthecardsintwoorthreeyearstime.

FionaBowie(8.12.15)