The North American Branch of the International Arthurian Society has elected Alan Lupack, director of the University of Rochester's Rossell Hope Robbins Library, as president.
An internationally known Arthurian scholar, Lupack is the author of numerous articles and a book of poems titled The Dream of Camelot, and has edited Middle English Arthurian texts and several collections of modern Arthurian literature. He developed the Camelot and Robin Hood web sites sponsored by the Robbins Library.
Most recently, Lupack and his wife, Barbara Tepa Lupack, published King Arthur in America, the first book-length study of American reinterpretations of Arthurian lore.
The International Arthurian Society promotes Arthurian scholarship through conferences and publications. It has branches in over a dozen countries around the world, including Belgium, France, Italy, Rumania, and even Japan. With nearly 400 members, the North American branch of the group is the largest.
Lupack has been a member of the International Arthurian Society for more than a decade. He has been vice president of the North American branch and serves on the editorial board of the branch's quarterly, Arthuriana. At the Society's triennial conference, held in Toulouse, France, last summer, Lupack made a presentation on John Steinbeck's reinterpretation of Malory's Morte D'Arthur in his novel Sweet Thursday.
Lupack is also one of the organizers of an international conference, "Camelot 2000: A Millennial Conference on the Arthurian Legends," which will be held Oct. 26 to 28 at the University.