“My little crazy beloved was serving me dinner, and through the dining
room’s open window I was contemplating the moving architectures that God
fashions from vapors, the marvelous constructions of the impalpable. And
I was saying to myself, through my contemplation, ‘All those
phantasmagorias are almost as beautiful as the eyes of my beautiful
beloved, my little green-eyed monstrous madwoman.’
        And suddenly I received a violent punch in the back, and I heard
a hoarse and charming voice, a hysterical voice and husky as if from
brandy, the voice of my dear little beloved, which was saying, ‘Will you
ever eat your soup, you goddamn cloud peddler!’”
        -Charles Baudelaire “The Soup And The Clouds”

The prose poem is controversial by reputation and design. But what are
we all afraid of? Why must a genre that intentionally subverts the
conventions of poetry and the expectations of proseâ€"a genre that subverts
the definition of genre itselfâ€"rattle the rigid walls of the ivory
tower?

We welcome passionate discussion of the prose poem. We welcome
articulate discussion of conventional genres in literature. We even
welcome discussion of “non-literature” or “would-be literature” limited
to online or private publication (or to publication that is never
actually seen because it is “outside” the “mainstream” and therefore
has “no audience”) due to the stogy expectations of corporate,
controlling, popular, contemporary publishing. In short, allâ€"
including “transwriters” (or writers of prose poems)â€"are welcome.

Creative critical submissions and critical creative submissions may be
most appropriate for this, the 14th annual Southwest Graduate English
Symposium at Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, held Feb. 29-March 1,
2008.

Submissions are encouraged in fields that include literature, rhetoric
and composition, creative writing, theater studies, communication,
language studies, English education, women and gender studies, film,
visual and media studies, history, psychology, philosophy, religion,
social sciences, and popular culture.

Panel proposals should be no more than 500 words submitted by September
30, 2007. Paper abstracts should be no more than 350 words submitted by
October 15, 2007. Please include home and office numbers, complete
mailing address, e-mail address, professional affiliation, and AV
requirements with your submission.

Please submit all proposals and any questions to asu2008symp_at_gmail.com.

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Received on Wed Oct 17 2007 - 19:18:47 EDT