cfp.english.upenn.edu

Call for Papers: OZ: THE BOOKS

A conference co-sponsored by
The Arne Nixon Center for the Study of Children’s Literature
California State University, Fresno,
and The International Wizard of Oz Club

May 14-16, 2010

The Arne Nixon Center for the Study of Children’s Literature at California State University, Fresno, will host a national Oz conference, co-sponsored by the International Wizard of Oz Club, May 14-16, 2010.

Featured speakers will include Gregory Maguire, author of Wicked; Michael Patrick Hearn, author of The Annotated Wizard of Oz; Eric Shanower, graphic novelist of many Oz-related titles; and John Fricke, author of The Wizard of Oz: An Illustrated Companion to the Timeless Movie Classic. The conference will include a performance of Time Again in Oz, a musical based on Ozma of Oz, by Suzan L. Zeder.

We invite submissions for presentations of 15 minutes in length to be presented in breakout sessions on May 14th. PowerPoint will be the only AV technology available for these presentations. Presenters must register for the conference. Up to 48 papers can be accepted.

Possible topics include:

• Biographies of L. Frank Baum
• L. Frank Baum, W.W. Denslow, and the World Columbian Exposition
• The influence of Matilda Joslyn Gage on L. Frank Baum
• Compare Oz authors, especially L. Frank Baum and Ruth Plumly Thompson
• Compare Baum to Piers Anthony, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Lewis Carroll, Roald Dahl, Norton Juster, or others
• Magic and technology in Oz
• Baum’s non-Oz books
• Oz illustrators
• Oz graphic novels and comic books
• Stage and screen adaptations
• Wicked: the book and the musical
• Dark Oz themes
• Oz fan fiction
• Oz-related books for young people: Harry Sue, The Book of Fred, The Secret Order of the Gumm Street Girls, the Sisters Grimm series, DRAMA: The Four Dorothys, etc.
• Oz-related books for adults: A Barnstormer in Oz, Was, etc.
• Authors who have been influenced by the Oz books: Ray Bradbury, Harlan Ellison, Forest J. Ackerman
• Celebrity Oz fans: Shirley Temple, Herbert Grosch, Nora Ephron
• Teaching Oz
• Oz as a cultural phenomenon
• Why is Oz so enduring?

Send proposals to Allison Cowgill (acowgill@csufresno.edu), chair of the paper review committee, on or before January 15, 2010. Format:

Subject heading: Oz conference proposal

First page: Title of proposal, your name, address, phone number, email.

Following page/s: Title of proposal. PowerPoint, yes or no? Abstract of 300-500 words.

Receipt of proposals will be confirmed via email. Proposals will be evaluated through a blind review process and authors of accepted proposals will receive notification via email by February 1, 2010.

Information about the conference, including events, registration, housing, and transportation, will be available at www.arnenixoncenter.org or by calling (559) 278-8116.

For information about the International Wizard of Oz Club, visit www.ozclub.org.

Community Sponsors

Department of Theatre Arts, California State University, Fresno
Fresno Metropolitan Museum of Art, History, and Science
Fresno Pacific University
Fresno County Public Library
Additional sponsors to be announced