Submission and Registration Deadline – December 15, 2009

Call for Papers/Proposals for the Children's and Young Adult Literature and Culture Area of the 31st Annual Meeting of the SW/TX PCA/ACA

February 10-13, 2010
Hyatt Regency Albuquerque
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Conference web site: http://www.swtxpca.org/

E-mail submissions preferred:
Dr. Diana Dominguez
Area Chair
gypsyscholar@rgv.rr.com

Please put SWPCA Submission in e-mail subject line.

Now accepting proposals for the Children's and Young Adult Literature and Culture area of the Southwest/Texas Popular Culture/American Culture Associations Conference. This area is not limited to proposals/papers about traditional literature; children's and young adult culture can encompass a myriad of media: books, television, film, computer/internet culture, fan fiction, toys, marketing issues, music, comics and graphic novels. Theoretically-based papers about the very nature of "children's" and "young adult" categories/genres also encouraged. Where do the lines intersect between children's, young adult, and traditional adult literature and culture? How do children's and young adult authors and "producers" push the boundaries in genre, format, story/plot, characters, gender, sexuality, and ethnicity? How do children's and YA authors/producers reach their target audiences in inventive ways? How do these authors/producers deconstruct and reconstruct traditional genres and stories in order to address larger issues? Also, in keeping with this year's conference tribute to the Science Fiction/Fantasy area, what is the state of Science Fiction & Fantasy in the children's and YA world? Do children's/YA authors successfully lay the groundwork in their work to create the new generation of adult SF/Fantasy audiences? Other subjects or topics related to children's and YA literature/culture considered.

Please send 250 word paper proposals, or 500 word panel proposals, including full contact info for all participants for review to area chair by deadline of December 15, 2009. Please include a short (100 word) bio, but no full CVs needed.

Interdisciplinary approaches and all scholarly fields are welcome. Also, as this is a popular culture conference, presentations that depart from traditional reading of papers are highly encouraged and welcomed. Presenters also need not have a university affiliation; we embrace all forms of experiential knowledge potential presenters might offer. Graduate students are especially encouraged to submit proposals.

Please see the Conference web site for information on Graduate Student Paper Awards, Graduate Student Travel Fellowships, Registration, and Lodging: http://www.swtxpca.org/

Full contact details:
Dr. Diana Dominguez
Dept. of English
U. of Texas-Brownsville/Texas Southmost College
80 Fort Brown
Brownsville, TX 78520

Phone: 956.882.8853

See you in Albuquerque!