Friends of Mr Biswas in collaboration with the Department of Literary, Cultural and Communication Studies, The University of the West Indies, St Augustine is pleased to issue this call for papers for an interactive conference on the work of the three Naipauls - Seepersad and his sons, Vidia and Shiva. The conference on the theme: Seepersad and Sons: Naipaulian Creative Synergies will convene from September 6th. to 8th. 2015 on the St. Augustine Campus of the University of the West Indies, with field trips and public lectures at the Lion House in Chaguanas and at the Naipaul House in St James, Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies.

This three-day conference seeks to explore the interface between the works of the brothers and/or that of the father and his son/s by bringing together academics from across disciplinary backgrounds to exchange ideas and consider novel perspectives on the Naipauls' thoughts and expressions. Themes that anticipate such exploration include but are not limited to:

• Journalism and travel writing
• India and popular/critical responses to their writings on India
• Democracy and freedom
• Experimentation and innovations in form and genre bending/crossing
• Representations of childhood, gender and ethnic relations
• The making of the artist
• The Naipauls on Religion
• Critical and popular responses to the Naipauls
• The Naipauls on creolization
• The West Indian response

These themes are multidisciplinary and reveal the far-reaching synergies and diverse array of approaches intrinsic to Naipaulian Studies. They are meant to encourage appreciation of the depth and breadth of the intellectual and social impact of the Naipauls' work and the intricate imbrication of their joint corpus of texts.
To create a dynamic, interactive atmosphere in which to foster thought and discussion, papers, posters, films and film critique, performances and other creative/interactive presentations are invited.

The specifications are as follows:

• Formal presentation using any medium – limited to 20 minutes with a 10 minute discussion period

• Poster session - presentation/display space limited to 1.5m x 1.5m

• Panel discussion - two or three papers encompassing a range of perspectives on an issue

• Round Table - informal presentation settings limited to 30 minutes

• Dramatic presentation

• Exhibition – art, craft, film, audio recording, etc.

Scholars and artistes are asked to send abstracts with specific titles of no more than 200 words, and a brief bio of no more than 150 words. These should be submitted via email as Microsoft Word attachments to The Secretary, threenaipaulconference@gmail.com.

All submissions should contain the following information: sub theme, paper title, author's name, institutional affiliation (if any), mailing address, e-mail address, and telephone contact. The deadline for submission is May 31th. 2015.

Scholars whose proposals have been accepted for presentation at the conference will be notified by June 30th. 2015. The deadline for submission of full papers of between 5000 and 6,000 words is August 15th 2015. Papers should constitute original unpublished work and should be of publishable quality. Presentations will be considered for inclusion in a peer-reviewed publication on the theme. Citations should adhere to the latest version of Modern Languages Association Style Manual.

VENUE: UWI SCHOOL OF CONTINUING STUDIES
Gordon Street, St Augustine.
Trinidad and Tobago. WI

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
The Secretary, Conference Planning Committee
threenaipaulconference@gmail.com
Professor Kenneth Ramchand
Kenneth@ramchand.net
Professor Brinsley Samaroo
Bsamaroo40@gmail.com
Dr Paula Morgan
Paula.Morgan@sta.uwi.edu
Dr Vijay Maharaj
Vijay.Maharaj@sta.uwi.edu