American Literature Association: 37th Annual Conference
May 20-23, 2026
Chicago, IL

“Neurodivergent just means a brain that diverges.” – Kassiane Asasumasu, Radical Neurodivergence Speaking

The first year of Neurodivergent Studies at the PCA, in New Orleans in 2025, showed that there was marked interest in developing this field and expanding conversations. Neurodivergent Studies, a field that has long been relegated to more scientific study, is ready to move into different spaces as we start conversations about how neurodivergent approaches to popular culture, fandom, academia, and our own experiences can shape the way we approach the world.

CALL FOR BOOK CHAPTERS

 The Final Frontier: Race, Ecology & Colonialism in Space Opera

Edited by Mikail Boz & Cenk Tan

Editors’ Introduction

Workshop: “From Alienation to Affinities”

Organizers: Isabel Osuna Montilla and Klara Tolic, University of Tübingen, Germany

Call for Papers

United Lutheran Seminary to Host “A Vision for Liberating Our Democracy” Conference, February 27–28, 2026

 Two-day gathering will explore the religious and racialized roots of American democracy and paths toward a more just future.

United Lutheran Seminary (ULS) will host A Vision for Liberating Our Democracy: Examining the Religious and Racialized Roots of American Democracy on February 27–28, 2026, at its Philadelphia campus. The interdisciplinary conference will bring together scholars, activists, educators, and faith leaders to examine how religion and race have shaped democratic life in the United States and to explore liberative visions for the future.

The Activist Author: Contemporary Forms and Historical Precedents of Activist Literature

Dates and Location:

November 9th & 10th, 2026.

UCLouvain (Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium).

Confirmed Keynote speakers:

Sara Dimick: Northwestern University; author of Unseasonable: Climate Change in Global Literatures.

Juan Meneses: UNC Charlotte; author of Resisting Dialogue: Modern Fiction and the Future of Dissent and editor of Postpolitics and the Aesthetic Imagination.

The 2026 NEXUS Interdisciplinary Conference invites current graduate students to submit abstracts for this year's conference at The University of Tennessee - Knoxville on April 17-18, 2026.

Agriculture and Food Systems: The Role of AI and Digitalization9–12 September 2026 | Cappadocia University, TürkiyeCall for Abstracts

Between the volcanic rock formations of Cappadocia and the shifting landscapes of food and farming, EurSafe 2026 invites you to explore the ethical dimensions of AI and digitalization in agriculture. As we stand at the intersection of urgent climate action and rapidly evolving technology, this conference asks: how can we harness digital innovation to ensure sustainable, just, and resilient food systems?

Addressing Ocean and Space Pollution Through the Arts: New Considerations on Indigenous Knowledges and Collaborative Practices

A conference organized by the ERC-funded research project OSPAPIK, the Centre des métiers d’art de la Polynésie française (CMAPf) and the Université de la Polynésie française (UPF, Vice-Présidence Dialogue Sciences, Cultures & Sociétés)

(For the CFP in French, please scroll down)

16-18 November 2026

«Letteratura e Letterature», 21, 2027

Call for Papers: Literature and the Visual Arts: Writing and / as Image

L’écriture est une image et le problème de ses rapports avec les autres types d’images est aussi ancien qu’elle-même, mais avec le développement de l’imprimerie, l’énorme multiplication de l’image écrite a provoqué une veritable occultation de la conscience occidentale à cet égard.

Invisible Wounds: Reframing Adoption Narratives in Children's Literature

MLA 2027 Convention: January 7-10, 2027, in Los Angeles, California 

PCA True Crime CFP 2026

UPDATED: Abstract Submission Deadline: Officially Friday, December 5th, 2026 with an additional week for late submissions at the discretion of the Area Chairs by Friday, December 12th, 2026. Please note if you have trouble submitting after December 5th, you should contact Samantha or Lauren directly.

PCA/ACA will be held from April 8-11th, 2026 in Atlanta, GA

Conference online: 22-23 January 2025

CFP:

Beyond the Pipe: Hydro politics, Gendered Scarcity, and Water Justice in South Asia Edited by Debapriya Ganguly and Rajni Singh Indian Institute of Technology, Dhanbad The hydro-political landscape of South Asia is arguably a defining site for examining the nexus of resource scarcity, human security, and regional conflict. While concerns over resource depletion are globally prevalent, this book aims to critique the fundamental premise of scarcity itself, asserting that in contexts like the Indo-Gangetic basin, it is rarely a natural condition. Instead, it is a socially and politically generated phenomenon—a “scare of scarcity”—instrumentalized by powerful groups to consolidate control and justify spatial domination.

EGSA ANNUAL CONFERENCE (2026): GRIEF IN CONVERSATION

Weird Genres, Weird Gender 

For MSA 2026, Loughborough UK (July 1-4)

I am interested in putting together a panel proposal with scholars working in the spaces of genre fiction in the early/mid 20th century, including romance, science fiction, westerns, horror/occult, detective fiction, historical fiction, adventure fiction, and children’s fiction, with an eye to representations of gender and sexuality. Analyses that bridge early 20th century genre study with contemporary genre narratives and adaptations are also welcome. 

Some possible topics could include

This call is for the American Literature Association Conference in Chicago, May 20-23, 2026!

The Sherwood Anderson Society is dedicated to the examination and exploration of the works of Sherwood Anderson (1876-1941).  The scholarly interests of this society are, but not exclusively, Anderson’s relationship fellow writers, author’s biography, the Midwest, expatriatism, the fiction of war, cosmopolitanism vs provincialism, urban vs rural, stylistic modernism, and pre and post-industrial United states. Please contact Doug Sheldon at sheldond@uic.edu with any inquiries.

Call For Presentations I: Sherwood Anderson at 150!

Greetings, fellow scholars of Middle-earth!

Gentle reminder to all that we are still taking abstracts for our Call for Papers for the 2026 Popular Culture Association National Conference in Atlanta! Let's make this the best year ever for exploring the works of J.R.R. Tolkien and his ongoing legacy.

We recognize growing concerns surrounding travel and the challenges it presents. To ensure everyone can participate, we will happily accept remote papers! These can be submitted as either pre-recorded video presentations or delivered live via Zoom. 

Call for Submissions to Conversations:

Margaret Fuller Society’s Special Issue on “Protest” 

Speculative Futures in CanLit

Call for Papers

Article submissions in English or French are invited for a special 50th-anniversary issue of Studies in Canadian Literature / Études en littérature canadienne on the theme of Speculative Futures in CanLit. The issue will be co-edited by John Clement Ball, Laura Moss, and Cynthia Sugars, and with a submission deadline of 15 May 2026.

This issue invites submissions on the myriad manifestations of the “speculative” and “future” in the field of Canadian literature, from submissions about speculative fiction and cultural texts, to environmental and/or political futures, to speculations about the future of Canadian literature itself.

Call for Papers II -- Queer and Trans of Color Critique: Colonial Legacies, Decolonial Futures

We are living in a rapidly changing world. For the last many decades, the contemporary world has been undergoing fundamental shifts and transformations in the social structures, systems, organisations, institutions, values, norms, and functions of a society. These social changes are often driven by technological breakthroughs, the penetration of social media, economic globalisation, ecological crises, war, disease, disorder, and so on, along with shifts in cultural and social paradigms.

Call for Book Chapters

Influence of Indian Philosophers on Indian Writings in English: A Socio-Cultural Perspective

Editors: Dr. Ashutosh Singh and Dr. Sahabuddin Ahamed

deadline for submission extended: 15 February, 2026 

Call for Papers for Western Literature Association’s guaranteed panel at the 2026 American Literature Association Meeting (Chicago, May 20-23)

This year’s general call seeks proposals related to any aspect of the study of literature of the American West.  Papers on single texts or single authors are welcome, though comparative, transnational, and/or multiethnic approaches are especially encouraged. Graduate students are encouraged to apply.