Since the plays of Sean O'Casey are ripe for analysis beyond historical/new historical readings that examine them in light of Irish nationalism, I am seeking abstracts for a possible panel on O'Casey for the Louisville Conference on Literature and Culture since 1900 (http://www.thelouisvilleconference.com/) on February 22-24, 2018.  O'Casey's work, both that which focuses on the years just before and after Irish independence and that written during his years in England, offers varied resources for scholarship from the perspectives of colonialism/postcolonialism, Marxist theory, and gender analysis.  In addition to the content of the plays themselves, and to their interest as political documents, O'Casey's body of work documents the transition between Victorian and Modernist dramatic styles, provides insight into the early 20th century audience for plays in both Ireland and England, and suggests the ways in which a dramatist can examine character in a modernist fashion.

Please sent 250-word abstracts and a brief bio to Bob Petersen at rpeterse@mtsu.edu no later than September 1, 2017.