cfp.english.upenn.edu

The 2009 Conference in Denver will continue the tradition established in 2004 of offering seminars designed to increase participation of the membership in the conference and giving them another excellent reason to attend. Modeled on what has worked successfully for such organizations as the Shakespeare Association of America and the Modernist Studies Association, these four seminars will each be led by a distinguished member of the Association.

Each seminar will have fifteen (15) guaranteed places, and each person accepted for a seminar will receive an official letter of invitation to the conference and will be listed in its program. Seminar participants will write brief position papers (2-4 pages maximum, double-spaced), and will circulate their papers to the other participants and read all the papers prior to the conference. The listing of the titles in the conference program should help participants obtain travel funding for the conference from their home colleges and universities. Senior scholars are eligible to apply for these seminars, but graduate students and junior faculty especially are encouraged to do so; we hope that senior scholars and others will spread the word and encourage their graduate students and junior colleagues to apply.

Seminar Two: Poetry and the Web
Convener: Susan Harris (Words Without Borders)
As more journals and literary magazines move to partial or complete online publication, and Websites such as Poets.org post classic and contemporary poems free of charge, poetry is more available than it has ever been. What are the implications of this expanded accessibility? How has the Internet altered approaches to reading, publishing, and writing poetry? To what particular uses can Internet publication be put? Publishers, poets, critics, and scholars will discuss issues including reception, dissemination, copyright protection, and how the shift from print to online has affected traditional markets. Abstracts, proposals, or the papers themselves should be sent to susaneharris@earthlink.net, with a CC to alsc@bu.edu.

Submission form and deadline. Submissions must reach the convener of the session by July 31. They should be sent to both (1) the convener of the panel or seminar and (2) the Association’s office at alsc@bu.edu. On your e-mail’s “subject” line, please give your name and other information in the following form: “ALSC 2009, [Name of Session] abstract by [First Name, Last Name].” For details regarding submission length, please refer to the individual instructions for each session.

If you do not send copies to both the convener and the ALSC, we cannot guarantee that you will receive an e-mail notice acknowledging receipt of your proposal.