From early on in the Harlem Renaissance, many black writers knew for a fact that there was a New Negro, but most differed on the nuances when creating such a character from text. African-American Literature in the early 20th century was marked not only by the spirit of cooperation and the feeling of community, but also by infighting and fevered debate over what constituted a proper direction for the movement(s). This panel seeks to reignite discussion over the ideas and histories of these debates between black writers during the formative and fluid period of 1920-1960. Divisive texts will be highlighted and discussed.

Still seeking submissions!

The current popularity of The Hunger Games Trilogy has brought young adult dystopian fiction to the forefront of both readers' and scholars' minds this year. Yet this genre has always produced innovative novels that reflect contemporary hopes and fears in their playful (and often violent) explorations of the future. Many authors use potential future worlds to comment upon contemporary concerns, including the loss of literacy, gender roles, political participation, and more. Presenters are invited to submit papers that consider how authors explore current issues in future dystopian and utopian worlds and what those predictions reveal about perceptions of young adults today.

March 15-18: Rochester, York.
http://www.nemla.org/convention/2012/

Call for papers for a panel on 'writing queerly' at the NEMLA 2011 session in Rochester, NY. For more information about the conference, please visit the NEMLA website: http://www.nemla.org/convention/

This already accepted special session--organized for the 53rd Annual Meeting of the MMLA, whose informal theme is "Play... No, Seriously"--will consist of papers exploring the ways in which fiction writers, when turning to the political, have made use of those resources available to novelists and short story writers interested in non-realistic, non-traditional, experimental, difficult—playful—forms and modes. While traditionally (and reductively) conceived "realism" has often been assumed to be the default mode for the politically engaged fiction-writer, we will examine those works that have taken alternative approaches. Among the array of questions our panelists might ask: How can writers engage the political?

The editors of Compendium2: Writing, Teaching, and Learning in the University invite contributions for online publication in the spring of 2012. Compendium2 publishes theoretical and practice-based essays that address writing development in post-secondary education. For the journal's fifth issue, we are interested in hearing from a range of disciplines, and invite submissions that consider the integration of writing and critical thinking as well as those that describe more specific assignments and teaching techniques.