Description: In the summer of 2025, TLW is on the move — join us at the University of Derby from Thursday 4th July—Friday 5th July for a conference which will continue a tradition of transatlantic literary investigation, celebrating feminist research and praxis, and encouraging enthusiastic collaboration and discussion. With this conference, we aim to highlight marginalised voices in both academia and in literature; therefore, we particularly encourage applications from and/or about Women of Colour, Queer Women, and Trans/Non-Binary writers and scholars. The transatlantic, for us, includes not only a journey mapped from Britain to the United States or of a special literary relationship between the two, but includes Canadian, Latin American, European, African, and Caribbean literatures in its purview. It also embodies a state of mind which embraces transnationalism and encourages outside-the-box thinking unrestricted by borders and boundaries. Therefore, if you can make a case for your area of study being contextualised by the transatlantic, we want to hear from you!
TLW wishes to engage with some of the following questions throughout this conference:
- How is literary history recorded and represented?
- Who merits inclusion in a literary ‘canon’?
- Is there such a thing as an écriture féminine?
- How can nation and area studies provide a framework for literary study?
- How are intersectionality and feminism represented in literary texts from across different eras?
- How are gender, race, and nation represented in literature which echoes a contemporary moment?
- Are there overlooked, hidden figures who should be better known?
- Are you a Transatlantic Literary Woman?
With this in mind, we invite researchers in the arts and humanities to consider where their research stands in respect to these questions. We welcome submissions from students and researchers of all levels. Proposal topics might include, but are not limited to:
- Transatlantic Modernisms — Edith Wharton, Sylvia Plath, Virginia Woolf
- The Harlem Renaissance — Nella Larsen
- Post-War America
- British Literatures
- Contemporary Anglo-American Literature
- (Latin) American Literature
- Caribbean Literature
- Transatlantic Communism
- Women’s Suffrage
- Feminist Reinterpretation
- Trauma, Resistance, Recovery
- Forgotten or Ignored Feminist Icons / The Hidden Figures of the Transatlantic Literary World
- The Feminine Epistolary
- Postcolonial Studies
- Borders and Boundaries
- Roots and Routes — the transatlantic slave trade, migration, diaspora
- Intersectionality and Identity — race, gender, sexuality, class, (dis)ability
Submission guidelines:
15-20 minute paper: These submissions will be sorted thematically into panels after acceptance.
5-10 minute flash talk or poster presentation: An opportunity for early career scholars to gain conference experience, and for researchers of all levels to air out new ideas in a constructive setting.
Whole panel: A group submission of 3-4 papers considered for acceptance as a whole panel. Panel submissions should account for time, running no longer than 2 hours total including introductions and Q&A.
Alternative sessions: We welcome proposals for alternative sessions lasting no longer than one hour. These might include, but are not limited to, book clubs, interactive workshops, and creative writing sessions.
If interested in participating, please email tr*****************@gm***.com with a short bio (around 100 words), and a proposal (maximum 300 words). Please specify your institutional affiliation, your style of presentation (15-20 minute paper, 5-10 minute paper, whole panel, or alternative session), and any materials or technology you will require. Please send all of this information in one document, formatted either in Word or PDF.
Submission deadlines: Monday, 31st March 2025
Institution: Transatlantic Literary Women network
For more information, click here.
