The Donald Cameron Watt Prize

Applications are invited for consideration for the Donald Cameron Watt Prize.  The prize is awarded annually by the Transatlantic Studies Association for the best paper at its annual conference by an early career scholar.  Judging will be based solely on the written versions of the papers submitted, which may not necessarily be the delivery versions. Entries should be submitted by 31 May, preceding the annual conference in July. This is the final deadline and no late entries can be accepted. The full version of the paper must be submitted by this date. The delivery of the paper is not part of the assessment but candidates for the award must attend and deliver the paper at the conference. 

The prize for the best paper will be awarded at the conference dinner. In addition, the paper will automatically be sent out for refereeing for publication in the Journal of Transatlantic Studies providing that it has not been submitted elsewhere.

Value of Prize: £250

Early career scholar is defined as: a PhD student; anyone within 3 years of having been awarded a PhD; anyone who has a full-time appointment at a recognised higher education institution, but has not held the post for more than 3 years and does not fall into the doctoral category.

Papers should be submitted to Gaynor Johnson g.johnson@salford.ac.uk and to Alan Dobson ad98@st-andrews.ac.uk on or before 31 May 2013 for the annual conference in July 2013

Scottish Charity Regulator: TSA Charity Number SC039378

Publication: "A Contested West: New Readings of Place in the American West"

We are glad to let you know about the publication of the third volume in the "American Literary West" series (Portal Editions):

A Contested West: New Readings of Place in the American West
Edited by: Martin Simonson, David Rio, and Amaia Ibarraran
Paperback: 258 pages
Publisher: PortalEditions, S.L. (March 1, 2013)
ISBN-10: 8493970581
ISBN-13: 978-8493970581
http://www.amazon.com/A-Contested-West-Martin-Simonson/dp/8493970581/

As the title of the present book implies, this collection of essays is conceived of as a critical response to mainstream views of the American West. This third volume in the PortalEducation series The American Literary West discloses some of the many - and intriguingly different - accounts of the complex relationships between the West as a physical reality, on the one hand, and human inhabitation and interpretation of this territory, on the other. The subject, while far from new, is also far from being exhausted. In fact, it can never be, because the American West - as any other place - is a perpetual work in progress which is undergoing constant revisions. Thus, the essays of the present volume attempt to illuminate some of these new spots on the ever evolving map of the West, providing fresh perspectives on the struggle to penetrate the veil imposed by traditional accounts, and the urge to comprehend and to portray in writing a number of unique areas that have hitherto been invisible to the vast majority. The project of the writers under study is not only to produce literary archaeology, but first and foremost to offer new interpretations of old histories in a multi-faceted and changing contemporary reality.

Call for Papers: Anniversary Symposium on the Works of Toni Morrison

Where: SÖDERTÖRN UNIVERSITY, STOCKHOLM
When: Friday October 18 - Saturday October 19, 2013.

This interdisciplinary two-day symposium celebrates the work of the Nobel Prize Laureate, Toni Morrison, and explores how Morrison's work was approached in 1993 and how it is approached today, twenty years after the Nobel prize. In her works, Morrison examines the question of African American identity, the physical and psychological scars left by slavery on the African American body, the development of male and female voices in post-slavery societies, and how the Self moves from objectification to achievement of agency. The symposium asks how 20th-century scholars have examined Morrison's works and how we, in 2013, still consider her work fundamental in studies concerned with African American, American, feminist, and contemporary issues. Researchers, postgraduate students and academic staff from different disciplines are invited to participate. We welcome papers conforming to 20 minutes oral presentation time, followed by 10 minutes of Q&A.

Call for Papers: The African American Experience Since 1992

Where: University of Hull, UK
When: 20 September 2013

There is currently a call for papers for the conference "The African American Experience Since 1992" at the University of Hull, UK. The event is scheduled for 20 September and is being hosted jointly by the American Studies programme and the Wilberforce Institute for Slavery and Emancipation Studies (WISE) at the University of Hull. The conference aims to examine, explore and critically engage with issues relating to African American life and cultural representation in the post civil rights era.

We would like to encourage our EAAS colleagues to submit 250 word paper proposals (accompanied by a one-page CV) by the deadline of 31 May 2013.

For more details see: http://www2.hull.ac.uk/fass/american-studies/events.aspx

Call for Papers: Roots, Routes and Routs: American and British literature in the Long Eighteenth Century

When: July 1st & 2nd 2013
Where: Plymouth University

In recent decades, 18th-century American literary studies has undergone significant transformation: 'especially' since the ground-breaking work of Cathy Davidson's Revolution and Word and, more recently, Laura Doyle's Freedom's Empire, critical approaches to early American literature have been comprehensively re-examined, in ways that have not always been recognised in both scholarly communities. An important feature of this re-examination has been a shift towards the 'routes,' rather than the 'roots,' of early American prose, drama and poetry; accordingly, transnational frameworks of critical discourse have tested the limits of a more discrete national aesthetic.

Call for Papers: Edith Wharton Symposium

When: 22 and 23 August 2013
Where: Liverpool Hope University, UK
Organisers: William Blazek and Laura Rattray
Keynote Speakers: Pamela Knights and Gary Totten

Call for Papers: extended deadline 27 May 2013

We warmly invite papers on the life and work of Edith Wharton for an international symposium, co-sponsored by the Wharton Society, to be held in Liverpool in August 2013.