Futuring Poetic Inquiry: A Return and Renewal10th International Symposium for Poetic Inquiry (ISPI) 
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada 
October 8-12, 2026  Proposal Submissions Due May 11, 2026To submit a proposal: Please visit the ISPI website for more information and to submit a proposal: ISPI website  
We are delighted to announce the 10th International Symposium for Poetic Inquiry, returning to the UBC Botanical Garden to mark 20 years of collective engagement in our community. This gathering will provide an intergenerational sharing of poetic scholarship. It will serve as fertile ground for poetic inquirers to share scholarship, build new connections, and future the field. As we round the second decade, we look forward to a new generation of inquiry.

The 2026 Symposium is designed as a poetic (un)conference—that is, a gathering focused on co-creation, reflection, and co-meaning-making in a place of nurturing growth, of nature, of culture, of new ways of living and relating poetically. We invite you to linger, listen, and create so as to unearth ideas, plant seeds, and tend connections across borders and disciplines. To future our field, we are intentionally sidestepping the relentless pace of academic productivity in favour of attending to emergence, embodiment, and poetic exchange. We are taking what is commonly experienced at the margins of a conference (rich and unexpected exchanges) and placing them at the centre.

With this in mind, the ISPI 2026 (un)conference will emphasize engagement and working groups over traditional academic presentations. The event will feature workshop-style facilitated poetic provocations where spontaneous collaborations can take root. Further, a primary goal for this symposium is to support and showcase the work of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, emphasizing and reflecting on new directions and methodical applications of poetic inquiry. In a departure from typical conference hierarchies, student and postdoc work will be shared with the entire collective. Meanwhile, poetic provocations and conversations by everyone, except graduate students/postdocs, will be shared in small groups to foster exchange, mentorship, and potential collaborations. 

Contact: ispiconference2026@gmail.com