The Paul Laurence Dunbar Society will sponsor two sessions, one in conjunction with the Chesnutt Association, at the American Literature Conference in San Francisco, May 24-7, 2012.

Session 1: Proposals for an Open Topic panel on any aspect of Dunbar's career, or that focus on any part of his literary output: poetry, novels, short stories, correspondence, or essays. Proposals on Dunbar's relationships with other authors, editors, critics, or related historical figures are especially welcome.

Please e-mail two page abstracts and a short CV by January 15, 2012 to Thomas Morgan at morgantz@notes.udayton.edu.

Session 2: Chesnutt and Dunbar. Junctures and Disjunctions in the representation and importance of black and, perhaps, white communities in the short and/or long fiction of Charles Chesnutt and Paul Dunbar. Questions one could ask when approaching this topic might include the following: Is the portrayal of community in the authors' works used to reinforce the social and/or political context of the works? Does the representation of the community further narrative structure or theme? Does the portrayal of community relay moral values or lessons, traditions, and/or cultural conditions surrounding the conflict in the work? One might also consider the absence of community in relation to this topic.

Please email two-page abstracts of paper and no more than a two-page cv by January 15, 2012 to the program chairs: Susan Prothro Wright swright1222@aol.com or smcfatt@cau.edu and Thomas Morgan morgantz@notes.udayton.edu