In Nick Bantock's Griffin and Sabine, Sabine Strohem and Griffin Moss have never met--not really. They have, though, shared an extraordinary epistolary correspondence. And through this correspondence, Griffin wonders how he can feel so close to someone through letters, only, "How can I miss you this badly when we've never met?" (39).

This panel invites abstracts concerning the literary love letter, however literal or abstract. From Dickinson's now-legendary correspondence with Sue Gilbert, to Jane Austen’s letters with her sister Cassandra, or to Rilke's letters of mentorship and--ultimately--deep love for Kappus, how do we define a "literary love letter," and what are the implications of the literary love letter? What can we ascertain from the love letter which we can, perhaps, not from any other medium?

This panel aims to illuminate the significance of the literary love letter--in all of its nuanced forms--as a genre which has historically been relegated to only the margins of serious study. The aim of the panel is, ultimately, to more-clearly direct our attention to the weight of the literary love letter as a genre all its own and the value of illuminating literary figures through the examination of these most-emotional correspondences.

Please submit a 250-300 word abstract to https://cfplist.com/nemla/Home/S/21655 by 09/30/2025 to be considered for this panel at the NeMLA conference in Pittsburgh on March 5-8, 2026. This panel's modality is in-person only.