The E. E. Cummings Society and the Society’s journal, Spring, invite abstracts for 20-minute papers for the 50th annual Louisville Conference on Literature and Culture since 1900, February 23-25, 2023, at the University of Louisville (http://www.thelouisvilleconference.com). 

Recent criticism of the works of poet-painter Cummings has gone beyond his well-documented engagement with modernist aesthetic and poetic innovations. From Cummings’ visual and temporal poetics, to iconic meta-sonnets and rhythmic portraiture, to iconicity and ecology, to classical modernism, and to animal and disability studies, the iconoclasm of Cummings in art and language has drawn an extensive critical reception from academic and popular readers. The recent Norton Critical Edition of E. E. Cummings: Selected Works (2020) that highlights Cummings’ virtuosity in various forms and diverse criticisms is a case in point. The continuing debate on Cummings’ literary status as a major or minor modern poet also draws attention to his enduring popular appeal. Recent translation studies have expanded interest in Cummings beyond the English language. What is it that has led to Cummings’ hold on so many readers home and abroad?

We would like to celebrate Cummings at the 50th LCLC with papers that explore his ongoing appeal to and influence on the academic and mass readership from any critical perspective (language, art, genre and/or culture, cultural divide and other approaches), along with the impact of popular appropriation of Cummings in the media on his standing as a poet. Translation studies are also welcome.

Please send 300-word abstracts (double-spaced and titled) and a brief bio by October 8, 2022 to: gch7u@uvawise.edu

Gillian Huang-Tiller, Ph.D.

Professor of English

Dept. of Lang. & Lit.

University of Virginia's College at Wise

1 College Avenue

Wise, VA 24293

E gch7u@uvawise.edu

P 276-376-4552