Call for Papers: Special Topic "Rhetorical Approaches to Literature" for theRocky Mountain MLA Conference to be held in Calgary October 4-6, 2007. Forconference information: Seeking papers for this special session that employ or comment upon usingrhetorical tools in the criticism of literature, particularly those thatdiscuss the affordances and constraints of rhetorical approaches toliterature are welcome.

Please send abstract (e-mail submissions preferred) by MARCH 10, 2007 to

Or to Raymond Craig

Department of English

KentStateUniversity

Kent, OH44224

Raymond Craig

Assoc. Professor, English

KentStateUniversity

// 330.672.1741

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South Atlantic Modern Language Association (SAMLA) Conference

November 9-11, 2007

Renaissance Atlanta Hotel Downtown

Atlanta, Georgia

SAMLA Literary Criticism Discussion Circle

"The Re-emergence of Aesthetic Approaches in Literary Criticism"

Literary critics employing ideological approaches often write from a positionthat is set in opposition to aesthetic approaches. Ideological approaches havebeen fairly dominant for many years in literary criticism, but recently thereappears to be a resurgence of interest in aesthetics. Does a turn towardaesthetics suggest a shift away from ideological approaches? Does the "newaesthetics" signal a simply a return to FrankfurtSchool notions of aestheticsand politics, or something new?

The SAMLA Literary Criticism Discussion Circle invites paper proposalsthat are related to this year's topic, "The Re-emergence of AestheticApproaches in Literary Criticism." Proposals may address issues including,but not limited to, the theory and practice of aesthetic approaches incontemporary literary studies; the FrankfurtSchool and its relevance tocontemporary theory; the intersection of theoretical frameworks (such aspsychoanalysis, feminism, postcolonialism, ecocriticsm, ect.) with aesthetics;and the tensions and/or possibilities generated by a convergence of ideologicaland aesthetic approaches.

E-mail abstracts of approximately 250 words (inline or as an attachment)by April 15, 2007 to session chair Kristin Girard . All submissions will be acknowledged uponreceipt.

Kristin Girard, Ph. D.

Brittain Postdoctoral Fellow

School of Literature, Communication and Culture

SkilesBuilding

686 Cherry St.

Atlanta, GA30332-0165

Poetry & Popular Culture

For many people, the terms "popular" and "poetry" seem mutually

exclusive and the term "popular poetry" oxymoronic - a non sequitur in which the commercial logic of the culture industries and the integrity of the lyric voice or aesthetic taste are impossibly paired. Yet the field of Cultural Studies now offers a set of rubrics by which we might talk productively about the intersection of poetry and popular culture. This panel seeks to showcase innovative scholarship at that

intersection and thus invites papers reading and recovering the history of popular poetry, examining its creation and consumption, and exploring its various manifestations from periodical to pin-up, radio to rock and roll, and advertisement to autograph book.

Send 300 word abstracts by April 16 to .

Submissions are invited for a session hosted by the Nathaniel Hawthorne

Society at the South Atlantic Modern Language Association Conference in Atlanta, 9-11 November 2007.

Subject: Teaching Hawthorne

What do we want our students to learn from Hawthorne's writings? What strategies do we use in the classroom to make Hawthorne relevant to students today? All approaches to this topic are welcome. Please send 1-2 page abstracts for 20 minute papers to Gale Temple () by March 30, 2007.

Submissions are requested for a collection of essays focusing on the work ofMary Shelley and her contemporaries. This collection is developing out oftwo panels from this year’s and last year's NEMLA conference, and there is apublisher interested in possibly producing the collection.

The importance of Mary Shelley as a woman writer during the Romantic periodhas been firmly established over the last two decades. In confirming hersignificance, scholars have moved "beyond _Frankenstein_" to examine hernumerous works in a variety of genres, including the novel, short story,drama, poetry, and literary biography. This collection will seek to continuethis effort by including papers discussing Shelley's importance to theRomantic period, hopefully discussing both her better known and her lesserknown works, and exploring the complex relationship between her works andthe writings of her contemporaries. Papers examining her writings in modesother than the novel and short story are particularly encouraged.

Please submit the following by MS Word attachment by June 1 to L. AdamMekler, : 250-word abstract, 20-page paper (ca. 6000words), and a current c.v. Inquiries are certainly welcome before thedeadline.

CFP: Jane Austen and Contemporary Literature and Culture (UK) (04/30/07; 06/23/07)

Proposals are invited for contributions to a study day on this theme at Chawton House, Hampshire, UK (the home of Jane Austen's brother). We wish to bring together scholars with an interest in contemporary re-writings and re-visions of Jane Austen, with a view to publishing an edited collection of essays. Possible topics might include: Jane Austen sequels or prequels, re-writings such as Bridget Jones's Diary, film and TV adaptations, phenomena such as Karen Joy Fowler's The Jane Austen Book Club and the Jane Austen Guide to Dating, biographies, Jane Austen pornography, etc. The study day will be held on 23 June 2007. Abstracts of 300 words are invited for papers of 20-30 minutes each. We may be able to provide some assistance for accommodation and travel costs for those whose papers are selected. Please send abstracts by 30 April to Professor Clare Hanson, Department of English, University of Southampton, UK. Email: <mailto:>

Midwest Modern Language Association Annual Convention, November 8-11, 2007, Cleveland, Ohio Henry James as the Artful Traveler

Papers are invited on any aspect of Henry James and travel, travel writing, expatriation, exile, and the like. Feel free to interpret travel in the widest possible senses. Please send an abstract (200 words or so) to Peter Rawlings as a Word attachment to an e-mail by 10 April 2007. The address is :

.