Calls for Papers
Call for entries – deadline extended to April 30th The Carson McCullers Annual Outstanding Conference Paper Award
The Carson McCullers Society is pleased to invite submissions for its annual prize for Outstanding Conference Paper. This award recognizes the best entry for a scholarly essay on the life and work of Carson McCullers presented at a conference the previous year. Entrants should provide evidence that the paper was presented at a national, regional or international academic conference during the 2019 calendar year (January 1 to December 31) and that the winner is an active member of Society at the time of receipt of the award (information on membership can be found here on our website). Submissions for this blind-judged competition are welcome from all levels of scholars and bear a $100 honorarium and recognition by the Society for best entry at the annual American Literature Association Conference in San Diego, CA. To enter the contest, please send a double-spaced paper and a conference program listing the paper to Carson McCullers Society President Isadora Wagner (isadora.wagner@westpoint.edu) by Thursday, April 30th, 2020.
CFP deadline extended to 15th March 2020 “Southern Modernist Women Writers and the Streets”
Modernist Studies Association conference; Brooklyn, NY; October 22-25, 2020
In keeping with the Modernist Studies Association 2020 conference theme of the “streets,” the Carson McCullers Society is pleased to organize a roundtable discussion series about southern modernist women writers and the streets. The roundtable is intended to spark conversation among Eudora Welty, Flannery O’Connor, Carson McCullers, Margaret Walker, Katherine Anne Porter, Kate Chopin, Anne Spencer, Zora Neale Hurston, and Lillian Hellman scholars, among others, about the innovations and interventions of southern modernist women writers in creating street scenes and characters. Please email all queries and/or a 300-word abstract and short bio with the subject line “MSA 2020 abstract” to the Carson McCullers Society at carsonmccullerssociety@gmail.com by end of day Sunday, March 15th.
Call for entries for the Carson McCullers Annual Outstanding Conference Paper Award
The Carson McCullers Society is pleased to invite submissions for its annual prize for Outstanding Conference Paper.
This award recognizes the best entry for a scholarly essay on the life and work of Carson McCullers presented at a conference the previous year. Entrants should provide evidence that the paper was presented at a national, regional or international academic conference during the 2019 calendar year (January 1 to December 31) and that the winner is an active member of Society at the time of receipt of the award (information on membership can be found here on our website). Submissions for this blind-judged competition are welcome from all levels of scholars and bear a $100 honorarium and recognition by the Society for best entry at the annual American Literature Association Conference in San Diego, CA.
To enter the contest, please send a double-spaced paper and a conference program listing the paper to Carson McCullers Society President Isadora Wagner (isadora.wagner@westpoint.edu) by Sunday, March 15, 2020.
“Southern Modernist Women Writers and the Streets” Modernist Studies Association conference; Brooklyn, NY; October 22-25, 2020
In keeping with the Modernist Studies Association 2020 conference theme of the “streets,” the Carson McCullers Society is pleased to sponsor a roundtable discussion series about southern modernist women writers and the streets. The roundtable panel is intended to spark conversation among Eudora Welty, Flannery O’Connor, Carson McCullers, Margaret Walker, Katherine Anne Porter, Kate Chopin, Anne Spencer, Zora Neale Hurston, and Lillian Hellman scholars, among others, about the innovations and interventions of southern modernist women writers in creating street scenes and characters. Please send all queries and/or a 300-word abstract and short bio to the Carson McCullers Society at carsonmccullerssociety@gmail.com by Sunday, March 1st. Please write “MSA 2020 abstract” as the subject of your email.
American Literature Association (ALA) Conference; San Diego, CA; May 21-24, 2020
The Carson McCullers Society is pleased to announce an open call for papers on any topic related to the life and works of Carson McCullers for a guaranteed panel at the American Literature Association (ALA) conference in San Diego, California, on May 21-24, 2020. Papers that approach McCullers’ works from interdisciplinary, comparative, and disability or gender studies perspectives are especially sought; however, all topics will be considered. Interested parties should send a 250-300 word abstract and short bio to the Carson McCullers Society at carsonmccullerssociety@gmail.com no later than Monday, January 20th, 2020. Please list “ALA 2020 abstract” as the subject of your email
CFP ALA (San Diego, CA; May 21-24, 2020)
The Carson McCullers Society is pleased to announce an open call for panel papers on any topic related to the life and works of Carson McCullers for one of two guaranteed panels at the American Literature Association (ALA) conference in San Diego, California, on May 21-24, 2020. Papers that approach McCullers’ works from interdisciplinary, comparative, and disability or gender studies perspectives are especially sought; however, all topics will be considered. Interested parties should send a 250-300 word abstract and short bio to the CMS Society president and vice president, Isadora Wagner (isadora.wagner@westpoint.edu) and Sarah-Marie Horning ([S.D.HORNING@tcu.edu]S.D.HORNING@tcu.edu), by January 12, 2019.
CFP MSA 2020 CFP (Brooklyn, NY; October 22-25, 2020)
The Carson McCullers Society is soliciting abstracts for a two-part roundtable series on southern modernist women writers and the topographies of the street for the Modernist Studies Association (MSA) conference in Brooklyn, NY, on October 22-25, 2020. This two-part series goes with the MSA conference theme of “the street” and is intended to spark conversation and collaboration among Welty, O’Connor, McCullers, Porter, Petrie, Chopin, and Hurston scholars, among others, about the innovations and interventions of southern modernist women writers in creating street scenes, situations, and characters. Interested parties should send a 300 word abstract and a short bio to Isadora Wagner, Carson McCullers Society President (isadora.wagner@westpoint.edu) and Sarah-Marie Horning, Society Vice President (S.D.HORNING@tcu.edu), by January 5, 2020.
CFP SSSL 2020
In conjunction with the biennial Society for the Study of Southern Literature (SSSL) conference theme of “how borders, binaries, and bars operate in lived experience as well as intellectual practice,” the Carson McCullers Society invites abstracts for two panels on the topic of the borderless south: one examining immigration themes in McCullers’ works, and the other, the role of national and international media like newspapers and radio broadcasts in the works of McCullers and her contemporaries. Papers that work comparatively between McCullers and other southern writers are highly encouraged. If interested, please send a 250-300 word abstract and a short bio to the Carson McCullers Society president and vice president, Isadora Wagner (isadora.wagner@westpoint.edu) and Sarah-Marie Horning ([S.D.HORNING@tcu.edu]S.D.HORNING@tcu.edu), by October 1, 2019.
CFP Teaching the Works of Carson McCullers in the Twenty-First Century
The Society is putting together a new, edited essay collection on approaches to teaching the works of Carson McCullers at the secondary and post-secondary levels. If you teach McCullers’ works in the classroom and are interested in possibly contributing an essay of 5,000-7,000 words by early 2021, please email a proposed essay abstract (<500 words) and a curriculum vitae to the attention of Society President Isadora J. Wagner and President-Emeritus Alison Graham-Bertolini at carsonmccullerssociety@gmail.com by January 15, 2020.
CFP SAMLA 2019, Atlanta GA, November 8-10, 2019 Power, Identity, and Relationships in the Works of Carson McCullers
The Carson McCullers Society is pleased to invite paper proposals for SAMLA 2019 on the conference theme of “Language: Power, Identity, and Relationships.” Proposals addressing any aspect of McCullers’ life and works are welcome, especially those that contribute new understandings of how McCullers deploys language to institute, reify, challenge, and/or reconfigure power relations at the individual, communal, societal, national, or geopolitical levels. If interested, please submit a 300-word abstract and brief bio to Amber P. Hodge, Carson McCullers Society Secretary, at ahodge@go.olemiss.edu by Monday, May 20, 2019
Carson McCullers Annual Outstanding Conference Paper Award
The Carson McCullers Society is pleased to invite submissions for its annual prize for Outstanding Conference Paper. This award recognizes the best entry for a scholarly essay on the life and work of Carson McCullers presented at a conference the previous year. Entrants should provide evidence that the paper was presented at a national, regional or international academic conference during 2018 (January to December) and that the winner is eligible for the award as an active member of Society (information on membership can be found here on our website). Submissions for this blind-judged competition are welcome from all levels of scholars and bear a $100 dollar honorarium and recognition by the Society for best entry. Please send submissions to Carson McCullers Society President Isadora Wagner (Isadora.wagner@westpoint.edu) by Wednesday, May 1, 2019.
The 87th Annual SAMLA Conference, Durham, North Carolina, November 13-15, 2015
The Carson McCullers Society
In light of the SAMLA 2015 conference theme of “In Concert: Literature and the Other Arts,” the Carson McCullers Center for Writers and Musicians and the Carson McCullers Society invites papers that explore the ways in which McCullers’ work and life is in dialogue with diverse modes of artistic expression. Her own early interest in music is reflected in much of her work, and many of her novels have been adapted to the screen or stage. Contemporary artists and playwrights like Suzanne Vega and Sarah Gubbins are interacting with and reinventing McCullers’ legacy in new and innovative ways through their own work. Further, the recent release of the Dr. Mary Mercer/Carson McCullers Collection at Columbus State University holds exciting potential for fresh insight into McCullers’ work and life, and perhaps new understandings of the connections between archival materials and creation and performance. Presentations about McCullers and her work that are not directly related to the conference theme are also welcome. By June, 2015, please submit a 300-word abstract, brief bio, and A/V requirements to Casey Kayser, University of Arkansas, at ckayser@uark.edu
The Carson McCullers Society invites submissions for an annual scholarly Prize for Outstanding Conference Paper, to be awarded to an essay on the life and work of Carson McCullers presented at a conference in the past year. Entries should provide evidence that the paper was presented at a regional, national, or international academic conference during the previous calendar year (January to December 2015) and that the winner is eligible for the award as an active member of the Society. See the Society’s website at http://www.carsonmccullerssociety.org/ for membership information. Submissions are welcome from graduate students and all levels of scholars. Judging will be a blind process, and the award carries a $100 honorarium. Please send submissions to Carson McCullers Society President Casey Kayser at ckayser@uark.edu by February 1, 2016. The winner will be announced in early March and honored at the American Literature Association Conference in May 2016, if the recipient is in attendance.
American Literature Association
26th Annual Conference
May 21 – 24, 2015
Boston, MA
The Carson McCullers Society
The Carson McCullers Center for Writers and Musicians (Columbus State University) in conjunction with The Carson McCullers Society invite proposals for individual papers or complete panels, topics open, for the American Literature Association Conference to be held in Boston, May 21-24, 2015. Abstracts of no more than 250 words should be sent to Alison Bertolini, Vice President, The Carson McCullers Society, at alison.bertolini@ndsu.edu no later than January 19, 2015. Preliminary inquiries are welcome.
The American Literature Association’s 26th annual conference will meet at the Westin Copley Place in Boston on May 21-24, 2015 (Thursday through Sunday of Memorial Day weekend). The deadline for proposals is January 30, 2015. For further information, please consult the ALA conference website at www.alaconf.org or contact the conference director, Professor Olivia Carr Edenfield at carr@georgiasouthern.edu with specific questions.
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Flannery O’Connor and Other Southern Women Writers
Georgia College 17-19 Sept. 2015
Milledgeville, Georgia
Proposals for twenty-minute academic papers or twenty-minute creative presentations are due to bruce.gentry@gcsu.edu by 31 Mar. 2015. Proposals may also be mailed to Bruce Gentry, English and Rhetoric, Campus Box 44, Georgia College, Milledgeville, GA 31061. Decisions will be announced by 21 Apr. 2015.
To propose an academic paper (and yes, male scholars are welcome to propose academic papers), send a 300-word abstract or send a completed paper. Please also send a bio statement of up to 100 words. Academic papers may address any topic relating to O’Connor or to another southern woman writer. Comparative papers are welcome.
Those wishing to propose a reading or other creative presentation should send a writing sample of up to ten pages of poetry or prose and a bio statement of up to 100 words. Creative presenters should have been born in or have grown up in the South; currently live in the South; or write about the South. Any requests for multimedia equipment should accompany the proposal.
Among the scheduled creative writing presenters are
Janisse Ray, Sarah Gordon, Sandra Meek,
Laura Newbern, and Alice Friman.
Among the scheduled scholarly presenters are
Evelyn C. White, Craig R. Amason,
Pearl McHaney, and Mab Segrest.
Registration costs $150,
with discounts for early registrants and for graduate students.
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The Sustainable Stories of Carson McCullers (The 86th Annual SAMLA Conference, Atlanta, Georgia, November 7-9, 2014)
In recent years, there has been a revived interest in the work of Carson McCullers. For example, in 2001 the Library of America published a collection of her novels followed by a second print run in 2004. Also in 2004, talk show host Oprah Winfrey chose The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter as the selection for her popular book club, and soon after The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter became part of The Big Read, a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest. More than 40 years after McCullers’s death, the love, loneliness, and longing that haunt her stories still resonate with readers.
To reflect the larger conference theme, The Carson McCullers Center in conjunction with The Carson McCullers Society invite papers relating to the idea of sustainable stories. We are interested in papers that discuss how and why McCullers’s work is particularly suited to endure the test of time. Papers might also address the ways that McCullers’ stories suggest that we reduce and reverse trends of degradation (environmental and otherwise), economic instability, and social inequalities, and how we might lead more sustainable lives. Alternately, papers might interrogate the idea of sustainability, both literally and figuratively, by discussing how the very notion can work to reinscribe hierarchies of power and other hegemonic forms of oppression.
Presentations about McCullers and her work that are not directly related to the conference theme are also welcome.
By June 10, 2014, please send abstracts of 300 words or so and a brief bio to A. Bertolini at
Alison.bertolini@ndsu.edu.
Carson McCullers’ “Other Souths”
Panelists sought for a Carson McCullers and “Other Souths” panel at the upcoming Society for the Study of Southern Literature Conference in Arlington, Virginia, March 27-29th, 2014. A wide range of interpretations and focal points will be considered, although all papers should explore McCullers life and work through the rubric of expanding conceptualizations of the South under New Southern studies approaches (i.e., queer souths, digital souths, eugenics souths, the “south” of the body, southern alliances and antagonisms, etc.)
Interested parties should send a 300-500 word abstract to Isadora Wagner (iwagner@go.olemiss.edu) and/or Troy Smith (twsmith@go.olemiss.edu) by Friday, December 6th, 2013.
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American Literature Association
25th Annual Conference
May 22 – 25, 2014
Washington DC
CALL FOR PAPERS
The Carson McCullers Society
The Carson McCullers Society invites submission on any aspects of Carson McCullers’ life and work. We are particularly interested in innovative presentations that
- showcase previously neglected genres (such as drama, poetry, non-fiction, and short fiction)
- offer new lenses for reading the novels (transatlantic/global studies, ecological, medical humanities/disability studies)
- reveal intertextualities with other authors/works
Please send 300-500 word abstracts to The Carson McCullers Society (carsonmccullerssociety@gmail.com) on or before January 25th, 2014.
For more information about The Carson McCullers Society, please visit: www.carsonmccullerssociety.org. We will hold a business meeting to elect new officers and reassess by-laws, and we encourage your involvement!
The American Literature Association’s 25th annual conference will meet at the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill on May 22-25, 2014 (Thursday through Sunday of Memorial Day weekend). The deadline for proposals is January 30, 2014. For further information, please consult the ALA website at www.americanliterature.org, or contact the conference director, Professor Alfred Bendixen of Texas A & M University, at abendixen@tamu.edu with specific questions.
The Carson McCullers Society 