We are constantly engaged in processes of reading. We read literary texts, historical sources, films and other media, political moods and affects, and shifting social formations. Amongst the plethora of reading strategies available to us, close reading is perhaps the most widely known and most accepted one in literary studies (cf. I.A. Richards and William Empson). Other approaches to texts include ‘paranoid’ and ‘reparative reading’ (Sedgwick 1997), ‘distant reading’ (Moretti 2000), ‘wide reading’ (Hallet 2010), and ‘surface reading’ (Best and Marcus 2009), to name just a few. More recent research has examined intermedial reading practices (Rippl 2015), the reading of affects (Brinkema 2014), and non/institutional readers (Emre 2017). 

Call for Papers for an Edited Book

Virtual Reality Literature

Ratul Nandi and Anik Sarkar

NeMLA meets next during the centennial of Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway and the sesquicentennial of Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina’s initial serialization. Central to both storylines is their eponymous characters’ differing relationships to suicide. From a less literary perspective, the moment comes relatively quick on the heels of the US Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, on June 24, 2022, undermining reproductive rights by undermining substantive due process rights generally, and so also euthanasic rights. The convergence is an auspicious occasion to explore women’s historical, literary, and philosophical perspectives on suicide.

All disciplines, methods, and perspectives welcome.

Famed and enigmatic filmmaker Terrence Malick’s remarkable filmography turned fifty recently. It begins with Badlands, that is, which appeared on October 15, 1973, followed five years later by Days of Heaven (1978). He returns after a twenty-five year hiatus with a triptych of literary and historical adaptations, including The Thin Red Line (1998), The New World (2005), and The Tree of Life (2011).

The Environmental Humanities is currently experiencing an unprecedented influx of creative and critical works from writers of Indigenous literature. This literary revolution, closely linked to climate change and environmental discourse, is a contributing factor, and writers are at the forefront of this contemporary debate. This session offers a unique opportunity for presenters to contribute to a significant academic debate by exploring paradigm shifts in Indigenous environmental discourse. The works will delve into the intersection of gender, class, race, and the Anthropocene, offering a comprehensive understanding.

Climate and the Limits of Narratability

A panel to be pitched for inclusion in the 2025 conference of the International Society for the Study of Narrative in Miami, April 2–6, 2025.

Organizer: Daniel Aureliano Newman, University of Toronto

New Writing: the International Journal for the Practice and Theory of Creative Writing (Routledge) seeks high quality articles, as well as creative work 

Articles submitted might focus on any aspect of Creative Writing Studies, including, for example:

• Creative Writing in universities and colleges
• pedagogy, practice or research topics
• the processes of creative writers, their drafts and completed works
• the history of particular writing forms
• analysis of particular creative works

Submission length is open. 

Embodying the Resolution: Storytelling and Performance for Social Resilience

(A Creative Panel Session of 56th NeMLA Annual Convention| March 6-9, 2025| Philadelphia, PA)

Abstract submission link: https://cfplist.com/nemla/Home/S/21022

NEMLA 2025 theme is "(R)EVOLUTION”, submission deadline (UPDATED): October 15, 2024

CALL FOR PAPERS

Henry James and the Archive

The Henry James Review invites essays between 1,000 and 12,500 words on any aspect of Henry James studies and archives for a special fall 2025 forum issue on “Henry James and the Archive.” 

Topics could include, for example:

• Using archives for Henry James scholarship

• Changes in how we understand the nature of the Henry James archive

• New archival sources for Henry James scholarship

Please note that abstract submissions must be sent through the ACLA submission portal online. For details, see the seminar posting on the ACLA website: https://www.acla.org/comparative-literature-and-politics-detranslation 

The 2025 annual meeting of the American Comparative Literature Association will be held virtually, May 29-June 1, 2025.

Society for Cinema & Media Studies–Translation/Publication Committee

in collaboration with

JCMS: Journal of Cinema and Media Studies

CALL FOR TRANSLATIONS, 2024-2025

JCMS: Journal for Cinema and Media Studies annually publishes one translation of outstanding scholarly or creative work on cinema and media studies. The translation is selected by the SCMS Translation/Publication Standing Committee, which coordinates the annual Call for Translations. The committee shepherds the selected submission into a completed manuscript for publication in an upcoming volume of JCMS. Original texts may be in any language and come from any period or geographic region.

Dates: March 6-9, 2025

Location: La Salle University, Philadelphia, PA

Abstract Submission Deadline: September 30th , 2024

Panel Title: Literature of Impact- Literary (R)evolutions of the Oppressed

Panel Description: 

Digital & Analog Cultures

Southwest Popular / American Culture Association (SWPACA)

46th Annual Conference, February 19-22, 2025

Marriott Albuquerque

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Call for Papers: INSAP XIII: Celestial Connections Across Time and Space(Queen’s University Belfast, 8-13 June 2025)

We are delighted to announce a call for papers for the INSAP XIII conference Celestial Connections Across Time and Space. This conference aims to bring together scholars, artists, and scientists from various disciplines to explore the multifaceted relationships between the skies - be it the stars, planets, or other celestial phenomena - and their influence across cultures, histories, and fields of study. INSAP’s purpose from its inception has been to foster a dialogue that bridges the gap between the sciences and the arts, encouraging a holistic understanding of the universe.