What are the Society's plans, if any, for MSA 2014? It's in Pittsburgh this coming November. *Deadline for Seminar Proposals and Thursday Workshop Proposals is February 28, 2014 * http://msa.press.jhu.edu/conferences/msa16/ I'm trying to put together something, but don't remember hearing anything from my fellow Poundians. Best, AndyT. On Fri, Aug 16, 2013 at 7:39 AM, Roxana Preda <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Dear Poundians, > > As you all know, The Ezra Pound Society has the major mission of > organising conference sessions and panels so that Poundians can present > their work and projects to the scholarly community. Until now, the EPS has > had two slots at the MLA in January and two slots at the American > Literature Association Conference in May. Preparations for the MLA > participation were made in February this year: Demetres organised a session > on literature and technology for the MLA 2014. > > The very good news is that our colleague Prof. Alan Golding, who has now > been appointed Director of the Louisville Conference, has offered the > society a regular slot for this prestigious annual event. The Louisville > Conference is dedicated to literature after 1900 and its connections with > the other arts: it has run for 41 years now and is attended on average by > 500 scholars. > Alan tells me people come gladly year after year (and not only for the > music, excellent restaurants and the bourbon!). Have a look at the > conference website here: http://www.thelouisvilleconference.com/ > > I asked Alan about how the Louisville conference compares to the MSA. > This is what he told me: > > ?Compared to MSA, it's somewhat smaller (about 500 people), and we don't > use MSA's seminar structure. We have a somewhat smaller book exhibit, but > still a pretty good-size Scholar's Choice table, and the U of Iowa Press is > now a presence too. Creative writing is a much stronger presence here than > at MSA; we run creative and critical panels simultaneously, and of our four > featured speaker slots, two are devoted to creative writing. I'm in touch > with Colson Whitehead about coming in 2014, and we still need to book our > poet; our critical speakers, Lauren Berlant and Peter Nicholls (of obvious > interest to Poundians), are in place. ? There's the full range of > participants, from grad students to full profs and name chairs. ? this > would be an opportunity to gather for folks working on the MLA Approaches > to Teaching Pound, among other possibilities.? > > It is for us to shape our session according to our interests and pursuits, > which gives us a much-needed freedom to study Pound in context and interact > with scholars engaged in all areas of modernism. Other author societies, > like the T.S. Eliot and Wallace Stevens ones, are regulars at the > Louisville Conference. I have taken up contact with the Eliot society UK, > which has started its own call for papers for Louisville ? it is a modest > beginning but in due course we could have stable channels of cooperation > and organise joint sessions or other projects. > > The deadline for submissions is October 1st 2013. > Please send a 300 word abstract and separate cover sheet to > [log in to unmask] to participate in this first session we organise > for the Louisville conference as a society. > > The cover sheet should include: > ? Name (as it will appear in the program) > ? Address (preferably home address) > ? E-mail address (necessary to confirm your acceptance) > ? Telephone number > ? Academic affiliation (if applicable) > ? Title of paper/work (as it will appear in the program) > ? National origin/genre of work discussed (please be specific) > ? Personal biographical note (100-150 words > > Depending on the nature of the work you submit, I will devise an inclusive > theme, rationale and title for our session. > > To conclude: > Through our organisation we are fortunate to have what could be called a > stable ?conference season? running from January through May (MLA, > Louisville, ALA). Let us use it to present our work, discuss it with peers, > and establish contacts. > > My promise to you at this point is that the participants in the Louisville > Conference will be the first to benefit from a website I plan to create for > the EPS. At present, most of us have to wait up to four years to see our > work published, or at least posted somewhere for public attention. As > people in my family used to say (a lot): ?This situation is intolerable. It > can?t and shouldn?t last!? > > The least we can do is post the conference abstracts on the website, so > that we have a running record of what we work on. For those of you who have > a project ready and are willing to show it to peers, the society website > could be a working option, permanent or temporary, as you choose. > > I am now preparing a white paper with proposals, so as to let you know > what such a website could be like. I hope to finish a draft by the end of > September and look forward to your input and ideas. > > Please use the email address above to write to me on any concerns, queries > and proposals about the EPS you might have. > > With all my best, > Roxana > > > -- > The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in > Scotland, with registration number SC005336. > -- *Andy Trevathan* "Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars." ~ Kahlil Gibran "We cannot cure the world of sorrows, but we can choose to live in joy." ~ Joseph Campbell