Call for Papers
The Sixth International Conference on the State of Mark Twain Studies
Elmira, New York
August 6 - 8, 2009

As we approach the 100th anniversary of Mark Twain's death, we invite
papers related to any aspect of Mark Twain's legacy.  We have a special
interest in papers on the following topics:

Mark Twain and Money
Mark Twain and Contemporary Authors
Mark Twain and Politics:  Then and Now
Mark Twain and Friends -or- Enemies
Mark Twain and other 19th and 20th-century Authors
Mark Twain and the Problems of Influence
Mark Twain and Law
Mark Twain as Cultural Icon:  Use and Abuse
Mark Twain and Modernism
Mark Twain, Realism, and Alternate Realities
Mark Twain and the Americas
Mark Twain and the Child
Mark Twain and the Art of Irreverence
Mark Twain and Modern Asian Cultures
Mark Twain, Clothes, and Costumes
Mark Twain and Gendered Identities
Mark Twain and Regional Identity
Mark Twain and Europe
Mark Twain and Africa
Mark Twain and Talk
Mark Twain and Skin
Mark Twain and Spirituality
Mark Twain and the Business of Writing
Mark Twain and the Image
Mark Twain and Technology
Mark Twain and the State of New York
Mark Twain and Science
Mark Twain and the Politics of Race
Mark Twain and the Grave

Please provide a developed abstract of 700 words.

Developed abstracts will be due Monday, February 2nd, 2009.

Final papers must be suitable for a twenty-minute presentation.

Please send your attached abstract, via electronic submission, to
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Provide your name, mailing address, and email address.

Papers will be reviewed anonymously by panel chairs.

Papers submitted to this Conference may be reviewed for publication by
the Center for Mark Twain Studies or in the 2010 Mark Twain Annual.

Complete conference information is available on the web. Google Elmira
2009.

CO-CHAIRS
Bruce Michelson, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Michael J.
Kiskis, Elmira College

PLANNING COMMITTEE
Lawrence I. Berkove, University of Michigan-Dearborn, Emeritus Joseph
Csicsila, Eastern Michigan University Kerry Driscoll, Saint Joseph College
Ann Ryan, Le Moyne College Mark Woodhouse, Elmira College Barbara Snedecor,
Elmira College

PANEL CHAIRS
James E. Caron, University of Hawai'i
Shelley Fisher Fishkin, Stanford University Alan Gribben, Auburn University
at Montgomery Susan Harris, University of Kansas Lawrence Howe, Roosevelt
University Holger Kersten, Universität Magdeburg Judith Yaross Lee, Ohio
University James Leonard, The Citadel Sharon McCoy, University of Georgia
Jeffrey Melton, Auburn University at Montgomery Linda Morris, University of
California-Davis, Emeritus Tom Quirk, University of Missouri-Columbia Laura
Skandera Trombley, Pitzer College

EDITING SESSION
Robert H. Hirst, University of California, Berkeley

DISCUSSION GROUP LEADERS
Cameron Nickels, James Madison University, Emeritus David E.E. Sloane,
University of New Haven Jeffrey Steinbrink, Franklin and Marshall College
Henry Wonham, University of Oregon

CLOSING ROUNDTABLE
Louis J. Budd, Duke University, Emeritus Alan Gribben, Auburn University at
Montgomery Robert H. Hirst, University of California, Berkeley Tom Quirk,
University of Missouri-Columbia Ann Ryan, Le Moyne College Gary Scharnhorst,
University of New Mexico

KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Russell Banks
A prolific writer of fiction, Russell Banks' titles include The Darling, The
Sweet Hereafter, Cloudsplitter, Rule of the Bone, Affliction, Success
Stories, Continental Drift,  Searching for Survivors, Trailerpark, The Book
of Jamaica, The New World, and Hamilton Stark. The Angel on the Roof is a
collection of thirty years of Banks' short fiction. His meditation on
American history, entitled Amérique: Notre Histoire (translated by Pierre
Furlan) was recently published in France. Banks has contributed poems,
stories, and essays to The Boston Globe Magazine, Vanity Fair, The New York
Times Book Review, Esquire, Harper's and numerous others.  His most recent
novel, The Reserve, is set in the Adirondacks in 1936-37, at the height of
the Great Depression.