The 1st Annual Virtual Conference of The Joseph Conrad Society of America

CONRAD NOW!  Joseph Conrad’s Global Crosscurrents

6 - 8  N O V E M B E R  /  2 0 2 6

The Joseph Conrad Society of America (JCSA) invites proposals for our inaugural Annual Virtual Conference, to be hosted on an integrated web-based Zoom platform from 06 to 08 November 2026. The title, CONRAD NOW! speaks to the present state of Conrad scholarship, but also to the ways in which earlier critical debates on that author have shaped his place not only in literary reflection but, as suggested by our subtitle, with respect to the world’s changing cultural landscapes.

Having celebrated our 50th anniversary in 2025, JCSA hopes to welcome both specialists of Joseph Conrad and interested literary scholars to our first international online forum. By bringing together a global community concerned with Conrad studies and the legacies of that author in a time of reduced academic budgets and travel difficulties, this peer-reviewed conference project serves as a meeting point for scholars, writers, and advanced students.  Indeed, our online format ensures a reciprocal scholarly exchange that crosses time-zones, geographical boundaries, and inspires transdisciplinary engagement with Conrad-related topics.  To mark the coming together of text and image in Conrad studies, the CONRAD NOW! conference will feature two interviews:

The first one with the well-known illustrator and cartoonist, Peter Kuper, whose graphic-novel version of Heart of Darkness is published with Norton. For more information on this publication, please navigate to: https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393358438.

The second interview is with the BAFTA award winning animator and filmmaker, Gerald Conn who is working on a sand animation feature, Heart of Darkness. For more information on this project, please navigate to: https://grittyrealism.co.uk/heart-of-darkness/ and https://variety.com/2025/film/global/heart-of-darkness-animation-loving-....

Our CONFERENCE THEME aims to be broad and inclusive. We seek proposals for papers of some 15-20 minutes that reflect the place of Conrad, his life, and his texts, on a wide variety of historical or contemporary themes. We are also inviting proposals for 5-8 minutes roundtable reflections addressing one of the following topics:

1. Reading Conrad: what strategies help general readers and students navigate Conrad’s texts and syntax today?

2. Topical Conrad: how does Conrad help us gain perspectiveon global and political events today?

3. Controversial Conrad: what is the place of Conrad within university curricula or with regard to historical debates?

PANEL PAPER proposals are welcome on all topics related to Conrad including, but in no way limited to the following:

Conrad, Nature, and the Nonhuman

Conrad, Blue Humanities, and the Archipelagic Turn

Conrad and Mind

Conrad: Affect and the Senses

Conrad’s Ambiguity and Ethics

Conrad and Fractured Identity

Gendering Conrad

Women, Silence, and Voice

Conrad’s Narratorial Poetics

Conrad’s Texts and Textuality

Conrad and Literary Modernism

Conrad and the Visual and Performing Arts

Conrad in Popular Culture: Comics, Games, Memes

Conrad, Artificial Intelligence, and the Future of Narrative

Multilingual Conrad: Translation and Reception

Intertextuality: Conrad’s Contemporaries and Literary Tradition

Conrad and the Transnational Imagination

West and East: Intercultural Conrad

Cosmopolitanism, Exile, and Hybridity

Conrad, Anarchy, Conflict, and Power

Conrad and the Empires of Today

Conrad and the Future of Europe

Contributions can be theoretical, empirical, methodological, practice-based, or community-engaged in nature. We are no less welcoming of interdisciplinary approaches to Conrad that suggest new ways to approach the literary study of that author in relation to the complexities and challenges of today’s world.

PRACTICAL DETAILS:

The conference itself will be held in English and, due to its international reach, will accommodate delegates from all time-zones. A dedicated series of webpages will host information on all aspects of the conference. Information on the call for papers and on how to apply and register will soon appear at < https://jcsa.clubexpress.com >.  Once delegates have been accepted and registered, they will have access to the roster of speakers and schedules.

APPLICATION & REGISTRATION: 

Please send traditional panel paper proposals (for presentations of 15-20 mins) and/or possible roundtable discussion talks (5-8 mins) to < dbaldwin@udallas.edu > by 30th August. Please include the following information:

title of talk and 200-word proposal / short biographical statement including full name and affiliation / your time zone

The cost of the conference is as follows (USD):

General / Faculty Admission: $45 (Includes a complimentary 1-year JCSA membership for non-members!)

Current JCSA Members (including Life Members): $20 (Before your purchase, check your email for the member-exclusive promo code to apply a $25 discount at checkout.)

Students (Flat Rate): $15 (Open to all students, member or non-member alike.)

Membership in the JCSA is complimentary for all Presenters and Delegates - separate notice will be made to all current members of the society (JCSA). Conference participation is a meaningful way to activate or extend your membership benefits, including receipt of our longstanding biannual journal, Joseph Conrad Today. Membership supports the ongoing work of the Conrad academic community.

For questions concerning applications, email: < dbaldwin@udallas.edu >

For registration or membership issues, email: < jcteditor@gmail.com >

For general conference inquiries: email: < mark_deggan@sfu.ca >

JCSA DIGITAL CONFERENCE committee:

Conference Chair: Dr. Mark Deggan, Simon Fraser University / Vancouver, Canada.

Conference co-Chairs:

Dr. Richard Ruppel, Chapman University / Orange CA, USA

Dr. Debra Romanick Baldwin, University of Dallas / USA

Prof. Agnieszka Adamowicz-Pośpiech, University of Silesia / Katowice, Poland

Dr. Pei-Wen Clio Kao, National Ilan University / Yilan, Taiwan

Dr. Alexia Hannis, University of Toronto / Canada

Mattia De Luca, University of Rome Tor Vergata / Italy