Conference
Conference: The Poetics of Olfaction, 1500–1800
- Date
- Tuesday 27 January 2026 - Wednesday 28 January 2026
- Address
- Rijksmuseum Boerhaave
Lange Sint Agnietenstraat 10
2312 WC Leiden
What does it mean to perceive smell? This question fascinated literary writers of the early modern period (1500–1800): their work abounds in references to and evocations of smell sensation and of specific scents. This conference examines the richly variegated ways in which early modern writers put the language of smell – or olfaction – to literary use. Our aim is to arrive at an early modern ‘poetics of olfaction’, mapping in what ways, and to what ends, early modern authors evoked smell sensations.
For the full programme and to register, please email Jan van Dijkhuizen at j.van.dijkhuizen@hum.leidenuniv.nl.
Speakers
Kerrewin van Blanken (Leiden U); Peter de Cupere (olfactory artist & art researcher / Hasselt U); Pauline Devriese (Modemuseum Hasselt / Ghent U); Jan van Dijkhuizen (Leiden U); Josephine Koopman (European University Institute); Inger Leemans (VU / KNAW); Tasha Marks (olfactory artist / food historian); Manon Raffard (U of Manchester); Mojca Ramšak (U of Ljubljana); Sophie Read (U of Cambridge); Anna-Rose Shack (U of Freiburg); Paul Smith (Leiden U); Will Tullet (U of York); Benjamin Young (U of Nevada).
This conference is part of the OC M project The Poetics of Olfaction in Early Modernity (POEM), funded by the Dutch Research Council.
