Hello, all,

Rick Hill and I have decided that it's time for our final call for papers
for a collection about the current state of Twain criticism.  So far, we've
lined up eight essays, including an introduction by Louis Budd, but we'd
like another two or three essays to round out the volume.  Specifically, we
could use essays on (1) current critical stances on the issue of Twain and
race and (2) the class and gender emphasis in the more recent Twain
biographies.  We're also open to other topics as long as they fit our focus.

Our call for papers is below.  Please let one of us know if you have
questions about the proposed volume.

Also, please distribute our call for papers among your colleagues.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!



MARK TWAIN AMONG THE CRITICS: CALL FOR ESSAYS

Twentieth-century critics have often concerned themselves with various sub-
and extra-literary questions about Mark Twain--whether he practiced "bad
faith" in his work, whether he subverted his genius to the status quo of
the Gilded Age, whether he was a plagiarist, an opportunist, a racist, a
sexist, an imperialist, a drunkard, a psychopath, a homosexual, a
pedophile, etc. etc.  Unpublished and recently published essays on the
skeptical side of these questions (and essays on the implications of such
questions) are invited for a proposed volume edited by Jim McWillams and
Rick Hill.  Payment will be in copies of the book and/or a small
honorarium, pending final arrangements with the publisher.  Essays should
be 10-20 manuscript pages and follow the Chicago manual of style.  Send an
abstract (with complete manuscript to follow 45 days after acceptance)
along with a vita and S.A.S.E. to Rick Hill, Department of English, Taylor
University, Upland IN 46989 by 1 January 1998.

For further information, call or e-mail:

Rick Hill: (765) 998-4971; [log in to unmask]
Jim McWilliams: (334) 670-6670; [log in to unmask]

Jim McWilliams
[log in to unmask]