[csaa-forum] Reminder: ASAL 2009 CFP closes 27 February

[Russell Smith]

REMINDER: Deadline for proposals 27 February

 

 

ASAL - the annual conference of the Association for the Study of
Australian Literature

 

ASAL 2009: Common Readers and Cultural Critics

 

8-11 July 2009

University House, Australian National University, Canberra 

 

12 July 2009

Public symposium: 'Writers, Readers and Critics', National Library of
Australia, Canberra.

 

CONFERENCE WEBSITE: http://asal2009.anu.edu.au/  

 

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS: Leigh Dale, Ken Gelder, Philip Mead 

 

GUEST WRITERS INCLUDE: Marion Halligan, Christopher Koch, Shane Maloney,
Kim Scott

 

CALL FOR PAPERS: 

Australian literature is not just a collection of texts: it is a diverse
set of formal and informal cultures-from school curricula to bestseller
lists, from university courses to writers' festivals-that all have their
own ways of talking about texts and their own forms of cultural
expertise. This conference seeks to explore the diversity of readers and
modes of reading that make up Australian literary culture. How do
'everyday' readers form judgements about what they read and what they
like? What are the relationships between everyday readers and
'specialist' readers in industries such as publishing and marketing,
print and electronic media, and in institutions such as schools and
universities, libraries and archives? How much influence do critics,
reviewers and cultural commentators have on readers' tastes and
habits-and vice versa? Who ultimately decides what books get published,
what books win prizes, what books are taught in schools, and what books
make up the Australian literary canon? Literary cultures are
characterised by tensions between tradition and innovation, reading
privately and reading professionally, reading for knowledge and reading
for pleasure. 

 

We invite proposals for 20-minute papers and for 90-minute panel
discussions (3 or 4 speakers) that address any aspect of literary
cultures, such as the following:

*           Everyday readers and the history of the popular / literary
cultural divide 

*           The role of reviewers and critics in influencing tastes and
making careers 

*           The roles of publishers, marketers, booksellers and
bestseller lists 

*           Literary festivals and writers as performers and promoters
of their own work 

*           The role and influence of literary prizes 

*           Reading communities such as book clubs, blogs, community
education 

*           Histories and analyses of Australian literary criticism 

*           School and university curricula and the Australian literary
canon 

*           Revisions and re-evaluations of canonical and non-canonical
Australian writers and texts 

*           Adaptations of Australian literary texts for film and other
media 

*           The transnational boundaries of Australian literature 

*           Australian children's and young adult literature: publishing
and readerships 

*           Libraries, archives and cultural heritage 

*           Creative writing programs 

*           Little magazines, grassroots publishing, zines 

*           Reading facebook and other social networking programs 

*           The new empiricism, distant reading, resourceful reading 

*           The ongoing impact of the 'culture wars' 

 

Please send 200-word abstracts of papers or panel proposals, with a
brief biographical note, to Russell.Smith at anu.edu.au  by Friday 27
February 2009. 

 

We welcome proposals from postgraduate students. Copyright Agency
Limited (CAL) has generously provided ten postgraduate scholarships,
covering costs of travel and accommodation, available to postgraduate
students whose own institutions are unable to support their attendance.
To enquire about postgraduate scholarships, please contact
Julieanne.Lamond at anu.edu.au  by 27 February 2009. 

 

ASAL 2009 organising committee: Julieanne.Lamond at anu.edu.au ,
Lucy.Neave at anu.edu.au , Monique.Rooney at anu.edu.au  and
Russell.Smith at anu.edu.au  
(School of Humanities, Australian National University)

 

ASAL 2009 is generously supported by the Copyright Agency Limited's
Cultural Fund, Arts ACT, the Australian National University and ASAL.

 

 

 

----

Dr Russell Smith

Co-Editor, Australian Humanities Review
<http://www.australianhumanitiesreview.org/>  

Lecturer in English

School of Humanities (Bldg 14)

Australian National University

Canberra  ACT  0200

Australia

Ph: +61 2 6125 2660

Fax: +61 2 6125 4490

 

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