Announcements

Dreiser at ALA

The International Theodore Dreiser Society will sponsor two panels at the American Literature Association Conference in San Francisco on May 24-27, 2012.  

Panel One: Dreiser and Other Writers

Papers are invited that consider Dreiser’s work in relation to that of other writers, including but not limited to examinations of Dreiser’s work as an influence on or influenced by other writers, Dreiser and his contemporaries, later twentieth- and early twenty-first-century writers’ literary debts to Dreiser, Dreiser’s impact on literary movements and traditions, or the relationship of Dreiser’s work to writing in fields other than literature.

Panel Two: Open Topic

Papers are invited on any topic concerning Dreiser or his work.  Given the centennial anniversary in 2012 of the publication of Dreiser’s The Financier, proposals might include (but are not limited to) considerations of money, greed, capitalism, business ethics, market forces, or related issues in this and other Dreiser works.

Presentations will be limited to 20 minutes.

Please send abstracts (250-350 words) for either panel to the program chair by 16 January 2012.  Email submissions are preferred. 

Gary Totten
Department of English, #2320
P.O. Box 6050
North Dakota State University
Fargo, ND 58108-6050
gary.totten@ndsu.edu

Conference details may be found at the American Literature Association web site:
http://www.calstatela.edu/academic/english/ala2/index.html

Call for Papers

The Robert H. Elias Essay Prize

The Robert H. Elias Essay Prize, named after the pioneering Dreiser scholar, is sponsored by the International Theodore Dreiser Society and is awarded annually to the graduate student or untenured faculty member who submits the best previously unpublished essay on the topic of naturalism or on the work of a naturalist author. Elias, professor emeritus at Cornell University, knew Dreiser and wrote the first official biography, Theodore Dreiser, Apostle of Nature (1949), and his groundbreaking three-volume edition of Dreiser's letters (1959) was the standard collection of the novelist's general correspondence for fifty years.

Applicants may submit essays that consider any aspect of naturalism, broadly conceived. We are especially interested in essays that push the boundaries of conventional conceptions of naturalism and those that make a case for extending traditional interpretations to later writers or that establish connections to other literary movements. In addition to a cash award of $250, the winning essay will appear in Studies in American Naturalism, a peer-reviewed journal sponsored by the Society. Other worthy essays besides the winner will be considered for publication as well.

Electronic submissions are encouraged, either as Word or PDF files. Please identify yourself on a cover page and not on the manuscript itself, and include a postal mailing address and telephone number.

Deadline: May 1, 2012 

Manuscripts should be sent to:

Stephen Brennan
Studies in American Naturalism
Department of English
Louisiana State University in Shreveport
Shreveport, LA 71115
stephencbrennan@bellsouth.net