Harper Eternal: New Inquiries on Frances E.W. Harper 

We invite submissions for a paper panel themed “Non-Western Aesthetics: Rhetoric, Resistance, and Representation” – an exploration of aesthetics from diverse cultural perspectives, non-Western rhetorical traditions, and globalized literary theory. Our aim is to examine non-Western, non-hegemonic discourses from non-White nations that incorporate indigenous critical approaches and local theories within artistic and literary practices. We are particularly interested in South and Southeast Asian literary and cultural studies.

Broad areas of exploration may include, but are certainly not limited to, the following literary and cultural theoretical perspectives:

The history of literature is also the history of the evolution of the technologies used to produce, distribute, and consume it. The appearance of new technologies and media affecting traditional understandings of reading and of the object “book” is welcomed by some as the sign of literature’s inherent vitality and innovation, and perceived by others as a threat. Kathleen Fitzpatrick argues that the anxieties generated by the emergence of new digital technologies since the postwar era are rooted in the conception of the book as a symbol of a vestigial order of which literary critics and scholars consider themselves masters and protectors.

Journalism and Mass Communication Department of Sister Nivedita University, based out of Kolkata, has put up this inter-disciplinary theme to invite research papers/articles from faculties, researchers, professionals, technocrats, and industry experts from the fields of Mass Communication, Political Science, Sociology, Psychology, English and Cultural Studies to discuss the role of media in representing the marginal voice in the contemporary society, its changing narratives and its effects on human lives. General outlines have been given above, with papers invited on topics and realms on the broader understanding of the theme and beyond the mentioned topics.

TRACKS

Brenna Duperron and Sarah LaVoy-Brunette are continuing to build the 'Indigenous turn' with some exciting panels for the 61st International Congress on Medieval Studies (May 14-16, 2026), which include:

• “The Glo(cal) Middle Ages on Turtle Island” (hybrid panel);
• and “Settler Medievalism: Ideology and Practice” (hybrid panel).

Abstract submissions due September 15, 2025 to the ICMS Confex site:

https://icms.confex.com/icms/2026/prelim.cgi

Romance, Revolution and Reform Journal will host our 2026 conference on the theme of 'Sex in the Long Nineteenth Century.' The conference will take place in-person at the University of Stirling on 15th January, with keynote speaker Dr. Michael Shaw.

CALL FOR CHAPTERS

Considering Empathy: Critical Approaches across Disciplines

Co-edited by Diana Ashe and Beverley McGuire (UNCW) 

Project Description

We invite contributions for an edited collection addressing the current debate over the role and meaning of empathy in contemporary life. While empathy was once studied primarily by psychologists and ethicists, societal shifts and thought leaders have brought empathy to the foreground of fields like politics, technology, public health, rhetoric, environmental studies, business, international studies, sociology, literary and language studies, education, and more. 

Dear colleagues,We are delighted to invite proposals for the Ninth International Conference on Literary Juvenilia, to be held at Valparaiso University from April 16–18, 2026. This year’s theme, Youth Writers and Their Worlds, calls on scholars to explore the various ways young people have imagined, questioned, and shaped their worlds through writing.We welcome papers that engage with youth-authored texts—published or private, written or visual—and encourage approaches that foreground the material, cultural, and imaginative contexts of juvenile literary and cultural production. Topics may include, but are not limited to:

Call for Papers

Medievalisms in Time and Space

The International Society for the Study of Medievalism Annual Conference

Fully Online

November 14th and 15th, 2025

Hosted by Anita Obermeier at the University of New Mexico

We welcome submissions considering aspects of Medievalisms in Time (any temporalities or relationships between them) and Space (inner spaces, Outer Space and outer spaces, contested spaces, geographies real and imagined, trans-temporalities); Trans-medievalisms of all kinds (such as transgender medievalisms, transformative medievalisms, transgressive medievalisms).

The editorial staff of Penumbra is excited to announce our journal’s first annual chap book competition for poets seeking to publish a collection of original works while enjoying some friendly literary rivalry. Contest winners will receive a cash prize and have their collection of poems published in a unique and beautifully crafted chap book manufactured by Penumbra Press. We are therefore soliciting submissions from poets of all backgrounds and levels of experience. Even if you’ve never published a poem before, we are eager for the opportunity to consider your work!

Mary Jacobs Memorial Essay Prize 2026

The Sylvia Townsend Warner Society is pleased to announce the Mary Jacobs Memorial Essay Prize 2026. The aim of the Prize is to encourage further study of the writings of Sylvia Townsend Warner, in honour of the distinguished work of Dr Mary Jacobs.

Call For Proposals AMERICAN NIGHTMARES II: RETURN TO SALEMTHE BIENNIAL SYMPOSIUM OF THE SOCIETY FOR THE STUDY OF THE AMERICAN GOTHIC March 19th – 21st, 2026Salem, Massachusetts Keynote Speaker: Victor LavalleKeynote Speaker: Siân Silyn Roberts Conference co-director: Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock, Central Michigan UniversityConference co-director: Jennifer Schell, University of Alaska FairbanksWith the kind support of the American Literature Association Please join the Society for the Study of the American Gothic for our second biennial symposium!

Lolly Willowes at 100: Sylvia Townsend Warner, Religion, and the Supernatural

IAS Common Ground, University College London, 29-30 May 2026

‘She, Laura Willowes, in England, in the year 1922, had entered into a compact with the Devil. The compact was made, and affirmed, and sealed with the round red seal of her blood’.

Deadline Approaching NORTHEAST POPULAR CULTURE ASSOCIATION, Virtual, October 9 to October 11, 2025 AREA: ROMANCE/POPULAR ROMANCE FICTION Deadline: Tuesday, July 31st by 5pm EST

 Contact email: Wendy Wagner wwagner@jwu.edu

 The Northeast Popular Culture Association (NEPCA) will host its 2025 annual conference this fall as a virtual conference from Thursday, October 9th, to Saturday, October 11th, 2025.

Using examples from various national literatures, we would like to investigate the key concepts behind a “faithful translation”: what are the obligations of the translator to the source text, and what is the relationship between the original and the translation? Papers focusing on self-translations done by bilingual authors are also welcome. Please submit your abstract through the official Nemla portal only at https://cfplist.com/nemla/Home/S/21947

You don't have to be a member but oyu need to create a free account first. 

We invite submissions for a paper panel themed “Non-Western Aesthetics: Rhetoric, Resistance, and Representation” – an exploration of aesthetics from diverse cultural perspectives, non-Western rhetorical traditions, and globalized literary theory. Our aim is to examine non-Western, non-hegemonic discourses from non-White nations that incorporate indigenous critical approaches and local theories within artistic and literary practices. We are particularly interested in South and Southeast Asian literary and cultural studies.

Broad areas of exploration may include, but are certainly not limited to, the following literary and cultural theoretical perspectives:

The 2025 Northeast Popular Culture Association (NEPCA) will host its annual conference this fall as a virtual conference from Thursday, October 9th, to Saturday, October 11th, 2025.

This area probes North American and international intersections between sports, society, and culture. Among the topics welcomed are those probing:

This panel will trace the connections between production, reproduction, and world-making in twentieth and twenty-first century literary, cinematic, legal, and medical texts. Scholars of biopolitics, nationalism, and reproduction such as Tanika Sarkar, Banu Subramaniam, and Kalindi Vora have noted that reproduction is fundamentally a postcolonial problem in that it sheds light on the anxieties entrenched in imperial and postcolonial nationalisms. That said, when seen from the perspectives of capital, labor, and affect, we know that reproduction happens in quiet and banal fashions—reproduction of feelings, of habits, of desires, of work, of cultures, and of ideas.

The Text, an International Peer Reviewed Online Journal of Language, Literature and Critical Theory (ISSN: 2581-9526)invites original, unpublished research papers for January 2026 issue.

Indexed in:

1.     ERIH PLUS (European Reference Index for the Humanities and Social Sciences)

2.     IAMCR (International Association for Media and Communication Research)

3.     Citefactor (Directory Indexing of International Research Journals)

4.     DRJI (The Directory of Research Journal Indexing)

5.     ResearchBib (Research Bible)

This roundtable will explore the development and impact of a yearly Joan of Arc themed Carnival parade and affiliated activities on understandings of Joan of Arc and carnival, itself.  The roundtable has alread been approved for inclusion at the International Congress of Medieval Studies in Kalamazoo, Michigan from May 14-16 2026.

 Key cities in Joan of Arc’s history often emphasize associations with the Maid as important parts of their cultural identities and contributors to their economies. Catholic and secular organizations alike propose tours for those who wish to “live” some dimension of Joan’s history by visiting the sites where she was born, fought, and died.

Nineteenth-Century Medievalisms (61st International Congress on Medieval Studies, May 14-16, 2026 in Kalamazoo)For this session, we seek proposals that acknowledge the broader concept of medievalism(s), which not only invokes the cultural and global dimensions of the Middle Ages but also includes traditional historical and philological critical approaches as well as creative, interpretive approaches.

This is a Call for Papers for a panel at the annual SAMLA conference (November 2025, Atlanta, GA). The conference will be in person. 

Strange Bedfellows? Digital Games and Mental Health Revisited

Until recently, video games had a bad reputation regarding mental health. From the 1976 arcade game “Death Race”, the dominant rhetoric claimed that certain games promoted violence and caused behavioral issues. Neuroscientific research tried to underscore the adverse cultural impact by investigating brain activity involved in game-play, and addiction psychiatry looked into correlations between games and gambling addiction.