African American Interrogations of American National Narratives: how do African American texts (e.g. Morrison’s Playing in the Dark, Paradise, or A Mercy) question the stability of American mythologies? 250-word abstracts, 2page cv to thabiti@wsu.edu by March 25.

Nat Turner: From Confessions to Film: How do various media re-imagine black rebellion/revolt as related to the 1831 “Confessions,” Styron’s 1967 novel, and/or Nate Parker’s film “Birth of a Nation”? 250-word abstracts, CV to miriam-thaggert@uiowa.edu by March 25.

Contemporary African American Theatre: what critical conversations and new directions must emerge to sustain the vitality of African American theatre and performance and our understanding of its role in society? 250-word abstracts, 2page cv to d_williams@howard.edu by March 25.

Dear Colleagues:

I hope this email finds you well.  I am writing to update you as to some of the activities of the MLA GS Life Writing Forum.

As you may know, last year MLA replaced most of the former divisions and discussion groups with forums in a new organizational structure. The Division on Autobiography, Biography, and Life Writing has…[Read more]

MLA 2017 Session Sponsored by the GLQ Caucus:

Pre-Stonewall/Post-Modern

Given recent debates on the nature and centrality of the Stonewall rebellion of 1969, we seek papers that examine cultural production that reaches forward or backward across this historic flashpoint for conjuring queer aesthetic and political imaginaries, from modernist…[Read more]

https://www.cfplist.com/CFP.aspx?CID=6828

The Streets of Philadelphia: From Rocky to Creed
The MLA Italian American Forum seeks paper proposals for a possible session at the MLA Annual Convention in Philadelphia, PA January 5-8, 2017. Taking a cue from the presidential conference theme “Boundary Conditions,” this panel seeks submissions that exp…[Read more]

https://www.cfplist.com/CFP.aspx?CID=6828

The MLA Italian American Forum seeks paper proposals for a possible session at the MLA Annual Convention in Philadelphia, PA January 5-8, 2017. Taking a cue from the presidential conference theme “Boundary Conditions,” this panel seeks submissions that explore the boundaries of racism and eth…[Read more]

Announcing the American Literature Society 

On behalf of the Advisory Board, I am pleased to announce the American Literature Society, a professional organization of scholars devoted to the preservation, study and recognition of American literature and culture. Formerly known as the American Literature Section of the Modern Language Association…[Read more]

Our CFPs for the 2017 MLA Convention in Philadelphia are now posted. Please consider applying and share widely!

“What Is Critical Bibliography?”
Seeking short position papers exploring the intellectual reach and possibilities for bibliography beyond textual criticism. What is the function of bibliography at the present time? 300 word abstracts by…[Read more]

Please tell us about your experience teaching the work of Karen Tei Yamashita and help shape a new MLA volume in the series, Approaches to World Literature. Information about proposing an essay for this volume is included at the end of the survey (use link above). Deadline: June 1, 2016.

Please note that this Survey and CFP is in addition to the…[Read more]

The Intimacies of Four Continents: Crossing Boundaries, Disciplines, Archives

Engagements with Lisa Lowe’s The Intimacies of Four Continents. Assessments, critiques, possibilities for new approaches, archives, connections. 250 word abstract and one-page CV by 15 March 2016.

Jeehyun Lim (limj@denison.edu) and Martin Joseph Ponce (ponce.8@osu.edu)

Black Pacific

Intersections of African, Asian, indigenous diasporas across the Pacific. Literary/cultural mappings and imaginings of cross-racial interaction, settler colonialism, labor migration, militarism, gender and sexuality. Abstract and CV by March 11.

Ira Dworkin (idworkin@tamu.edu) and Martin Joseph Ponce (ponce.8@osu.edu)

Latina/o Indigenous Pacific

Intersections of Latina/o and Indigenous production and identity within, around and through the Pacific Rim. Conversations, re-imaginings and re-formations across shared and divergent spaces and histories.  Abstract and CV by March 11.

Anna Nogar (anogar@unm.edu) and Ruby Tapia (rtapia@umich.edu)

Writing (…[Read more]

MELUS Call for Papers 
Special Issue: Twenty-First Century Perspectives on US Ethnic Literatures

(A commemorative special issue in honor of MELUS Emeritus Editor Joseph T. Skerrett, Jr.)

Guest Editors: A Yęmisi Jimoh and Angelo Robinson

Deadline for submission: 31 August 2016

Anticipated publication: 2018

With more than a decade and a half…[Read more]

We welcome proposals on biographical/contextual relations; representations of women; intertextuality; trans-Atlantic/trans-American treatments; race, gender, class, and sexuality, etc.

Please send 250-word abstracts to Ivonne Garcia (garciai@kenyon.edu) and Charlene Avallone (avallone000@gmail.com) by March 15, 2016.

See below for two CFPs from the Italian American Literature Forum for the 2017 MLA Convention in Philadelphia:

The Streets of Philadelphia: From Rocky to Creed.
The MLA Italian American Forum seeks paper proposals for a possible session at the MLA Annual Convention in Philadelphia, PA January 5-8, 2017.

Taking a cue from the presidential co…[Read more]

Please see below for two CFPs from the Italian American Literature Forum for the 2017 MLA Convention in Philadelphia:

DigITALamericana: New Archives of an Invisible People
The Italian American Literature Forum is seeking panelists to present transmedia perspectives and projects (oral histories, photos, artifacts, home movies etc.) on the Italian…[Read more]

The Revolution(ary) South

Across its history, the South, broadly conceived, has been the site for numerous revolutions and revolutionary ideas. These moments have been classified under many headings, including but not limited to: rebellion, insurrection, and protest. This panel invites papers that interrogate these revolution(ary) Souths as…[Read more]