cfp.english.upenn.edu

Determining Form: Creative Non-Fiction Journeys is a two-day conference being held at Glasgow University (June 11-12) which will provide a venue for the exploration and discussion of creative non-fiction within (and outwith) academia. Creative non-fiction encompasses a wide range of genres, including biography, autobiography, travel writing, memoir, journalism and essay writing. Works such as In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers and The Next American Essay edited by John D’Agata investigate literary spaces with a focus on the journey rather than the destination. Determining Form is interested in the way the genre is able to facilitate the exchange of ideas through writing that embraces potentiality and recognises the value of experimentation during the creative process. We want to talk about writing that chooses to value the process of its creation as well as the final product. Engaging and incisive papers from all disciplines are welcome.

Consider these concepts:

• The relationship between truth and fiction
• Journalistic responsibility
• Valuing indirection over direction
• Choosing the route less travelled
• Digression as part of the creative process
• Metaphor
• Memoir: what goes in, what stays out
• The creation of persona (in autobiography)
• Creative non-fiction in the academic essay
• Pedagogy and creative non-fiction

Please email a 300-400 word abstract and a brief biographical note to determiningformconference@gla.ac.uk by March 26th, 2010.

Micaela Maftei and Laura Tansley
Glasgow University