The Problem of Time in Contemporary Fiction is a panel that considers a wonderful challenge for both critics and writers: how time informs works of literature. In all fiction, the problem of time is a wonderful challenge: does imbuing a work and its characters with history add necessary depth or can it distract from the problems at hand? Can a writer ask readers to look beyond the final page? Do representations of 'real' time limit the inventiveness of works or are they necessary in allowing readers entry? While many authors and readers approach contemporary fiction via chronological 'real' time, many contemporary writers choose to frustrate convention and treat time with confident disdain; similarly, many contemporary readers prefer such works for being in many ways more realistic depictions of the human experience of time. In looking at both original stories by writers exploring innovative approaches to time as well as critical papers about already published works, this panel will consider the problem – if it's a problem at all – of time in contemporary fiction.

- See more at: http://www.pamla.org/2015/topics/creative-writing-problem-time-contempor...