SSASS

Call for Papers

The American Short Story:
An Expansion of the Genre

 

Keynote Speaker: J. Gerald Kennedy (Boyd Professor of English at Louisiana State University) "National Strangeness in the Antebellum Tale"
Special Event: A Reading by Judith Ortiz Cofer

The Society for the Study of the American Short Story (SSASS) requests proposals for papers and presentations at an international symposium on the short story to be held in Savannah, October 20-22, 2016, at the Hyatt Hotel.

Program

Click here to download the Symposium program. A final copy of the program will be provided at check-in.

Symposium Registration

Click here to download the paper registration form

Click here to register online.

Hotel Reservations

To make your hotel reservations online, visit the following site: https://resweb.passkey.com/go/AMLA2016

More information regarding hotel reservations, keynote speakers, and registrations details can be found on the new Society website: americanshortstory.org.

Proposals need be only a single page with one paragraph that describes the subject of the paper and another that gives the credentials of the speaker. In addition to traditional panels, the symposium will also hold discussion forums, seminar conversations, and roundtable sessions. Creative writers are also invited to present work in progress. All papers will also be considered for publication in the first volume of the new Society journal scheduled to appear in 2018.

A central focus of the symposium will be the expansion of the genre through the discovery of new writers from all racial and ethnic groups, the development of innovative types of stories (flash fiction, micro-fiction, and other forms), the recovery of fiction published in languages other than English, and the reconsideration of the contributions of other writers to the expansion of the genre. Close readings of stories by any American author are appropriate as are broad discussions of historical periods and movements. Examinations of the contributions of minority authors are especially welcome as are explorations of stories originally written in languages other than English.

Please note that no audiovisual equipment will be available for the symposium. Speakers need not be members of the American Literature Association in order to be on the program.

The Savannah symposium will be followed a year later by an international conference in Germany, October 26-29, 2017, directed by Professor Oliver Scheiding, University of Mainz. More details about this event will be posted on the society website late in 2016.

Please send all proposals and program suggestions for the Savannah symposium to the president of the society, Jim Nagel, at jnagel@uga.edu. Proposals are due by July 1, 2016.