The English department at the University of Bristol invites submissions for a 1-day conference to be held on the 29th of June, 2015, on the subject of 'Romanticism and the South-West'.
The conference aims to explore the importance of the South-West for Romantic writers, with a particular emphasis on the following topics: 1) ecologically aware writing and protoenvironmental thought; 2) the role of the South-West in an era of scientific development and discovery; 3) the South-West as a centre for reform movements and radical politics, as well as a region connected to slavery and imperialism; and 4) Romantic afterlives in the South-West.

Drawing together different perspectives of the region, the conference aims to reconsider the complex role of the South-West in the development of Romantic history and literature. We welcome a broad range of papers, but possible topics might include:
- Nature writing in the South-West; green thinking; the simple life
- Political radicalism in the South-West; anti-slavery campaigns; religious non-conformism; religious dissent
- Scientific culture in the South-West; exploration; innovation; 'the age of wonder'
- Internal differences in the South-West; regional peculiarities and distinctions
- the continuing traditions and resources of Romanticism; traces and afterlives of Romanticism in the South-West

Please submit a 250-word proposal by the 18th of March to: southwest.romanticism@gmail.com