Abstracts are invited for a conference on "Popular Fiction and the English Renaissance", to take place at Newcastle University 14-15 April 2012. The conference aims to explore those texts and plays which were most enthusiastically received and read by sixteenth and seventeenth century readers, as well as, more broadly, the themes and approaches which Renaissance authors identified as appealing to a broad audience of readers and theatre-goers. Topics could include (but are not limited to) the following:

Particularly popular sixteenth and seventeenth century texts, for example John Lyly's Euphues; literary responses to these works by other writers.

Renaissance authors who were particularly concerned with the popularity and saleability of their works.

The early modern literary marketplace; tension between print and manuscript culture.

The rise of the sequel in Elizabethan and Jacobean literature.

The cult of the author in the Renaissance.

Renaissance recycling of classical and/or medieval material.

English use of popular continental models and texts.

Authorial interaction with/awareness of the reader.

Renaissance texts and authors in modern popular culture (print, film, television or theatre)

Papers which address any of these themes from an interdisciplinary perspective are also warmly welcomed. The conference will consider papers on any aspect of the theme, in the period 1500-1700.

Abstracts (250 words max) should be sent to Katherine Heavey (katherine.heavey@ncl.ac.uk) by Friday 16th December.