The Mississippi Philological Association invites submissions of poetry, fiction, and literary or pedagogical essays for its annual conference to be held February 19-20, 2010, at The University of Southern Mississippi, in Hattiesburg, MS.

The MPA welcomes emerging and established scholars from Mississippi and the surrounding states. Graduate student submissions are encouraged. The conference will feature a banquet and a reading by poet Angela Ball, professor of English in The Center for Writers at The University of Southern Mississippi.

Literary and pedagogical essays should be in MLA format and should anticipate reading times of 15-20 minutes. Please submit a 250-word abstract (for scholarly papers) or samples of your creative work by e-mail to felicity.palmer@usm.edu (Subject: MPA Submission Critical or MPA Submission Creative) by November 31, 2009. Accepted speakers will be notified via e-mail by mid-December with information on conference registration, travel, and accommodations.

Selected essays, poems and short fiction will be published in POMPA, the Publications of the Mississippi Philological Association. For further information, e-mail Felicity Palmer at felicity.palmer@usm.edu.