The 2013 Medieval English Studies Symposium will be devoted to perspectives on the past as construed by late medieval writers. Our plenary speaker is Richard Newhauser whose work on sins is internationally known, and who will discuss the idea of decadence, inextricably connected with the waning of an epoch. Gower's lovesick Amans no longer wants to be in the service of Venus, for him courtly love is a thing of the past. Post-Chaucerians begin turning to the subject of the influence of "the makaris" (the maker), while drama is going through the slow transformation from the religious to the more secular plays.

MESS 2013 welcomes papers about the fifteenth century, a century of nostalgia for the world that is inescapably coming to an end, as well as one of welcome for the new sciences, new geography and new literatures.

500-word abstracts should be submitted by 10th September 2013, preferably by e-mail (kbronk@wa.amu.edu.pl; bbronkk@gmail.com), in the .rtf or .doc (Word for Windows) format. As the number of paper slots is limited, all proposals will be reviewed by the organising committee and the authors will be notified about acceptance by mid-September 2013. Participants without papers are also welcome.