The appeal of teleological thinking often shapes our readings of James, whether of individual works or of his career as a whole. But rather than let a sense of the ending determine our interpretation of what came before, how might James look different if we focused instead on beginnings? How does he typically begin a tale or novel—and how, if at all, do his strategies differ from those of other short story writers or novelists? How, where, or when doesn’t he begin? How is beginning thematized within the fictions, as in Isabel Archer’s practice of “beginning afresh a great many times” or Madame Merle’s wish that she could “begin again”? How did James himself begin as a writer? How did he retrospectively construct such beginnings in his Prefaces and autobiographies? What choices do we make when we decide where to begin a course or critical book on James? Where should a new reader of James begin—and why? How did we begin reading James, and what difference did that make later on?

All approaches are welcome. Some suggested topics:

• Beginnings of individual tales, novels, or other texts
• Beginnings of units within a text, such as chapters or volumes—or even individual sentences—as well as prefaces, prologues, preambles, or other preliminaries
• Beginnings in James as compared to those of other short story writers or novelists
• Acts of beginning—or beginning again within a work of fiction or travel writing
• Stage settings or opening scenes
• Beginnings in dialogue, beginnings of speeches, conversations, or other utterances
• James’s beginnings as a writer or the beginnings of writings or careers of other members of the James family
• James and the beginnings of historical events or movements—wars, modernism, feminism
• James’s own account of his beginnings in the autobiographies
• James’s retrospective construction of his own beginnings—of individual works, of his career—in the Prefaces
• Origins, roots, influences, inspirations, antecedents
• Beginning a course in James
• Beginning a critical study of James
• Strategies for encouraging others to begin reading James
• Memories of first reading James—where did you begin, and what difference did that make?
• Fresh starts, false starts, late starts

Please send a 250-word abstract and short biography to Ruth Yeazell (ruth.yeazell@yale.edu) and  Sarah Wadsworth (sarah.wadsworth@marquette.edu) by January 15, 2025. Please note if you have any AV requirements. For more details about the American Literature Association Conference please visit this website: https://americanliteratureassociation.org/ala-conferences/ala-annual-conference/