In Case You Missed Them First Time Around …
Papers, Prizes, and Workshops, by gosh:
The Mark Twain Circle of America is calling for proposals for two sessions at the upcoming American Literature Association conference, scheduled for May 26-20, 2022, in Chicago, Illinois. NOTE: The due date for these proposals has been changed to January 10, 2022.
Session 1 Title: “Not Your Granddaddy’s Mark Twain”
The Mark Twain Circle of America invites timely, innovative proposals from transdisciplinary approaches. We are interested in discussions that show how Mark Twain’s work reflects social constructions of human identities, intersections, and interactions such as (but not exclusive to) Queer, Non-human, Feminist, Trauma, Posthumanist, Eco-Critical, Colonial or Critical Race Studies. Please send a short vita and 2-p proposals to Susan K. Harris ([log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>) no later than January 10, 2022.
Session 2 Title: "Pandemic Twain"
Olivia and Sam Clemens’ marriage was marked by illnesses of all kinds. Both were passionately interested in scientific developments, especially medical breakthroughs. The Mark Twain Circle seeks papers exploring the Clemens family’s engagements with doctors, treatments, and medical establishments in the U.S., Europe, and during Sam, Livy, and Clara’s 1895-96 journey around the world. Please send short vita and 2-p proposals to Susan K. Harris ([log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>) no later than January 10, 2022.
The Circle also announces a new award contest and a graduate student workshop:
Contest: The Mark Twain Circle Emerging Scholar Award
The Mark Twain Circle of America seeks submissions for its new “Emerging Scholar” award. The award is for an article, either published since January of 2019 or accepted and forthcoming before the end of 2021, by a young scholar just entering the field. Interdisciplinary approaches are encouraged, so long as the article deals substantially with Mark Twain. All submitters must be Mark Twain Circle members in good standing (https://www.marktwaincircle.org/join-or-renew.).
Submitters should send copies of the article, acceptance letters (if forthcoming), and a current C.V. to John Bird ([log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>) by March 15, 2022. Winners will be announced at the 9th Annual Center for Mark Twain Studies Quadrennial Conference, August 4-7, 2022.
Workshop: From Seminar Paper to Publishable Article: A Graduate Student Workshop
The Mark Twain Circle of America<https://www.marktwaincircle.org/>, in conjunction with the Center for Mark Twain Studies at Elmira College<https://marktwainstudies.com/>, is happy to announce their first Graduate Student Workshop. This in-person workshop will provide an intensive writing experience for students hoping to transform a seminar or conference paper into an article ready to submit for publication. Although all approaches are welcome—and interdisciplinary approaches are encouraged--the paper must give substantial attention to Twain.
Ph.D. candidates are invited to apply for the 4-5 day workshop, which is scheduled to take place immediately following the August 4-7, 2022, Ninth International Conference on the State of Mark Twain Studies<https://marktwainstudies.com/elmira-2022-the-ninth-international-conference-on-the-state-of-mark-twain-studies/>. Students will work with a mentor and with each other, with ample time for writing and with access to the Twain archives at Elmira College and at Quarry Farm<https://marktwainstudies.com/about/quarry-farm/>. Successful applicants will be housed, free, in Elmira College dormitories and provided with breakfasts and lunches for the duration of the workshop, which will take place both on campus and at the Farm. They will also be provided with a $200 stipend and, depending on need, up to $300 more towards travel expenses.*
Applications are due by Friday, January 7, 2022. Applicants should provide a cover letter giving their name and institution, their program and their current progress within it (i.e., second year Ph.D., ABD, etc.), and their dissertation project where determined. Please also provide a 500-word abstract of the paper to be transformed in the workshop.
Applications should be submitted simultaneously to John Bird<mailto:[log in to unmask]> and to J<mailto:[log in to unmask]>udith Yaross Lee<mailto:[log in to unmask]>. Applicants will be informed of their acceptance by late February.
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* Special Offer: Applicants are strongly encouraged to submit proposals to and/or attend the Ninth International Conference on the State of Mark Twain Studies as well as the workshop. The conference theme is “Growth: The Most Rigorous Law of Our Being,” and is intended to stimulate conversation about 21st-century issues as well as 19th. The workshop, then, will be preceded by four days of lively discussion about Twain, his times, and the links between his times and ours. Students selected for the workshop who also choose to attend the conference will have their conference fees, lodging, and food waived—a $600 package.
Why Elmira? Elmira was the home of Twain’s wife, Olivia Langdon Clemens, and the Clemens family spent more than 30 long summers there. Quarry Farm, where the workshop will take place, belonged to Twain’s sister-in-law, and was the original site of the octagonal study that now graces the College campus. In it, Twain wrote many of his most famous works, including Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. Now a scholarly retreat, Quarry Farm has a fine collection of primary and secondary Twain materials. Moreover the library at Elmira College, which will be open during both the conference and the workshop, boasts a special Mark Twain archive that contains books, manuscripts, and other documents related to Twain’s own life and writings and to the lives of his family and friends.
Susan K. Harris
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