Southern Writers/Southern Writing Graduate Conference
University of Mississippi
2019 Call for Papers

The 24th Annual Southern Writers/Southern Writing Conference (SWSW) is a graduate student event hosted by the University of Mississippi from 18-20 July 2019.

We welcome abstracts for paper and panel proposals that explore Southern literature, writers, culture, and key figures. The conference seeks to foster a multi-disciplinary environment, featuring graduate students with an interest in the U.S South. Potential topics for discussion include:

Intersections of Southern material culture, cultural identity, and literature

Re-defining the boundaries of the “South,” and considering the region in a global context

Topics in race, gender, class, and identity

The U.S. South in global contexts

Southern space and place

Ecocriticism, travel narratives, nature writing, and the Southern landscape

Religion, gothic, and “the grotesque”

Interdisciplinary studies

Folklore, material culture, and community

Film and media studies

Letters, diaries, and periodicals

Oral culture, music, and food representation in Southern culture and literature

We also invite creative submissions, including poetry, short stories, or novel excerpts that deal with Southern themes or settings. Both critical and creative submissions are eligible for the Faulkner Paper Prize and the Colby H. Kullman Award.

Our plenary speaker for the conference this year will be David A. Davis, Associate Professor of English at Mercer University, and author of the recently published World War I and Southern Modernism (UPress of Mississippi, 2017).

Please send a 200–300-word abstract of a critical work or an entire creative work to swswgradconference@gmail.com. The conference reading limit for critical works is 15 minutes. Panel proposals that include three or four participants are also welcome. Please send your submissions as Word attachments and include your university affiliation and short bio.
The deadline for submissions is Sunday, 14 April 2019.
Successful applicants will be notified by mid-May.

For more information, please contact Michelle Ayers at swswgradconference@gmail.com

---

Graduate Student Symposium

The graduate student symposium will provide an opportunity for graduate students to practice presentation skills on topics or work related to their time spent as a graduate student. 

This event will take place April 25th 2019 from 5 pm to 8 pm in room 119 and 121 of Tomlinson Hall.

4:45 pm - 5:00 pm     Poster Set up

5:00 pm – 5:15 pm    Opening speaker

5:15 pm – 6:00 pm    Poster Session and refreshments

6:00 pm – 8:00 pm    Oral Presentations

For general questions about the event you can contact Stephanie Nefas at snefas@atu.edu

Poster Sessions

To participate in the poster session graduate students will need to prepare a poster presentation on a topic that is part of your studies, work that is being conducted, or proposals for a future project to be conducted. This includes but is not limited to research conducted, research proposals, creative projects, events organized, or classwork completed. You may refer to your discipline’s expectations for presenting such material. If you are unable to attend in person you may still submit a poster to be displayed and judged.

If you have additional questions about poster content, structure, or submissions contact Donald McCormick at dmccormick@atu.edu 

Oral Presentations

To participate in the oral presentation segment graduate students will need to prepare a 15 minute oral presentation on a topic that is part of your studies, work that is being conducted, or proposals for a future project to be conducted. This includes but is not limited to research conducted, research proposals, creative projects, events organized, or classwork completed. A computer and projection system will be provided for PowerPoints or visual aids. If you would like time to take questions as part of your 15 min presentation we suggest to prepare 12 min of presentation material and leaving 3 for questions. Additionally if you are unable to attend in person we can accommodate with a live video chat for you to present.

If you have additional questions about oral presentation content, structure, or submissions contact Cristina Blanco at cblanco@atu.edu

Applications can be found here.