Description: Situated next to the First Americans Museum and built by the Chickasaw Nation, the Okana Hotel celebrates and honors the rich cultural tapestry of the region. Oklahoma’s history is a testament to Indigenous resilience and empowerment amidst a complex multicultural landscape.
The conference theme seeks to explore the transformative power of words across diverse cultural narratives. We aim to (re)center multiculturalism in the western narrative, examining how diverse histories have shaped and continue to influence our understanding of western literature.
Submission guidelines: The Western Literature Association invites proposals for its 2025 conference, hosted at the Okana Resort and Indoor Waterpark in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Situated next to the First Americans Museum and built by the Chickasaw Nation, this venue celebrates and honors the rich cultural tapestry of the region. Oklahoma’s history is a testament to Indigenous resilience and empowerment amidst a complex multicultural landscape.
The conference theme, inspired by Beverly Guy-Sheftall’s groundbreaking anthology Words of Fire (1995), seeks to explore the transformative power of words across diverse cultural narratives. Building on earlier discussions, WLA 2025 will continue to delve into themes of transcendence and experimentation within western literature. We aim to (re)center multiculturalism in the western narrative, examining how diverse histories have shaped and continue to influence our understanding of western literature.
We invite abstracts that engage with, but are not limited to, the following topics:
- Oral traditions and narratives
- Multicultural perspectives in western literature
- Indigenous Oklahoma
- Multiculturalism in the Archives
- Literary responses to historical and contemporary issues in Oklahoma
- Black feminist thought and stories of the American west
- Representations of resilience and community in western fiction and drama
- Latine/Latinx narratives
- The role of environmental and social justice in western literature
- Asian American Plains histories
- Gender and sexuality in the western narrative
- Afro-indigeneity in western literature
- Young Adult novels and Children’s Literature
- Contemporary Oklahoma in popular culture, media, and film
- Memoir
- The Poetic West/ The Dramatic West
Submission deadline: Abstracts (250 words) have to be submitted via ConfTool by April 30th, 2025.
Accepted presenters will be notified by May 31st, 2025.
Institution: Western Literature Association
Link: for more information about the CFPs, click here
