An International Symposium dedicated to exploring the boundaries of biography

25-26 October 2018, Noosa Queensland Australia

Abstracts are being sought for and investigation into speculative biography and exploring associated practices.  Recently, some writers have chosen to experiment further with biography, employing conjecture and ‘informed imagination’ to fill in the gaps and silences in the archives, and when writing the lives of those who are under-represented in sources and obscured from the historical record. Such works have come to be known as ‘speculative biography’, not only because they challenge traditional notions of authorial veracity but also because, in contrast to biographically-based fiction or historical fiction, these experimental approaches are still clearly recognizable as nonfictional attempts to explore and express the ‘truth’.

Details and how to submit can be found here

The NonfictioNOW Conference is currently seeking panel proposals for its 2018 conference, taking place November 1-3 in Phoenix, Arizona, hosted by the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing at Arizona State University and held at the Renaissance Phoenix Downtown Hotel and historic Orpheum Theatre.

NonfictioNOW is unique in being neither a conventional academic conference nor a writers’ festival, but rather a lively conversation among peers, one that brings together well-established writers and those just starting out. We are especially interested in proposals that defy the expectations and/or subvert the format of the traditional conference panel, as well as those that include a diverse group of participants, reflecting the inclusive and international nature of this gathering.

In the past, the most successful panels have been conceived and conducted as lively, discursive, playful, and interactive events, as opposed to the reading of a succession of individual papers. Similarly, we are enthusiastic about the great energy and range present in all of nonfiction’s many forms, including literary and political essays; memoir and journalism; digital media, graphic memoirs, and hybrid essays; performance-based work; and other areas of the field. Our hope is that we might receive great proposals exploring the many different shapes of nonfiction, with variety and diversity serving to enlarging both the conversation and community present at the conference.

Submissions are due April 15, 2018. All submissions must include a panel description (150 words or less, written as it should appear in the program, if accepted), a statement of merit (150 words or less), and the complete contact information for three to five panel participants, including a program-ready bio of 50 words or less for each participant.

The NonfictioNOW Board is a rotating group of writers and academics from around the world. Panel submissions will be assessed in a timely fashion by the Board, with every effort made to have final panels confirmed by the middle of July.

INDICATIVE TOPICS:

The following list is a starting place for brainstorming and conversation, not an exclusive expression of the conference’s interests. We hope and expect that many proposals will go far beyond the topics listed here, offering to bring new areas of inquiry and exploration to this year’s NonfictioNOW:

• nonfiction genres and their boundaries and tensions, including but not limited to: essay (personal, narrative, lyric, collage, interdisciplinary, etc.); memoir; immersion writing; history; biography; long-form journalism; travel writing; food writing; nonfiction poetry; environmental and science writing; sports writing; hybrids of fiction and nonfiction
• non-traditional and/or supra-literary forms of nonfiction, including but not limited to: performance, documentary, radio, video, hypertext, programmable media, and graphic forms
• indigenous, regional, national, and/or international characteristics and issues that are expressed through nonfiction genres
• threads of influence, style, and discourse, with a focus on important authors or on historical/cultural/theoretical trends
• the poetics of nonfiction
• intersections of self and other genders, race, sexualities, and abilities in nonfiction
• nonfiction in/as translation

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

• Please note that individuals may appear on up to three panel proposals and may present on two. If all three proposals of a person’s panels are accepted, they will have to drop off one of them. 
• The conference cannot fund presenters, but we will provide travel tips to make the trip more affordable. After this year’s panel acceptances are announced, we will encourage meetups on Facebook’s Friends of NonfictioNOW page so that people without a panel can find one and panels with vacancies can fill their open spots.
• To help facilitate international diversity, we will give preference to panels with three to four participants that indicate their willingness to include additional panelists.
• It is the role of each panel chair to finalize, confirm, and coordinate their panel, as well as provide any necessary additional information for the conference program.
• After panel acceptances go out, we will open up a second call for proposals to formally participate in the conference outside of panels. In Reykjavik in 2017, this took the form of  roundtable presentations (in Icelandic, húslestur, or “house readings”). More information will be forthcoming.  The conference will host multiple sessions of these húslestur, creating another avenue for participation and conversation among participants and potential presenters.

Click here to submit

Australia is home to the world’s longest living story traditions, but are our creative writing classrooms a place where Indigenous Australian story can be shared? How might the teaching of creative writing be changed through ongoing relationship to the knowledge and experience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people? What can creative writing as a discipline offer in return? The symposium will engage these questions through panel discussions, yarning circles, and creative readings from leading Indigenous writers, academics and storytellers, including members of the university and local First Nations Australian communities.

Presenters on the day include Professor Jill Milroy, Professor Tony Birch, Ellen van Neervan, Dr Jared Thomas, Dr Paul Collis and Lisa Fuller. Their discussions will jump off into yarning circles where participants can discuss the issues they raise in depth.

There will be an evening reading event with stalls. Come along for the day, or drop in after work for some wine and nibblies, browse the books and other items, and get a book signed by the author.

All are welcome to the symposium, the evening reading, or both.

Symposium: 8.30-5.30pm

Evening reading & stalls: 5.30-6.30pm

For more information, click here

Manuscription Magazine is a new magazine that publishes only authors and creatives under 18.

When they are chosen for publication, the young writers will work with university-level writing students to edit and develop their work in a mentoring relationship designed to encourage and improve. By showcasing different genres, as well as offering a space for young people to critically reflect on the media they consume in the reviews section, Manuscription intends to act as a space to foster creative talent and interest by providing an opportunity for younger creatives to see their work in print.

Manuscription is looking for stories/poems in all genres. They look for great stories/poems about the youth experience, issues of identity and friendship, coming-of-age, family, and anything else that you as an author consider to be an important aspect of your life. For more details on submission guidelines and how to submit, click here.

School of Humanities
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

Young and research-intensive, Nanyang Technological University (NTU Singapore) is ranked 11th globally. It is also placed 1st among the world’s best young universities.

The School of Humanities (SoH), NTU Singapore, pursues disciplinary excellence as well as promotes interdisciplinary teaching and research. The School aims to equip our students with up-to-date knowledge, critical thinking, research, as well as communication skills to enable them to realise their potential and aspirations and to make lasting contributions to Singapore and beyond.

The School of Humanities seeks to fill a tenure-track position in English, at the Assistant Professor level, with specialisation in Creative Writing.

All areas of expertise will be considered. A PhD in a relevant field is preferred, but all suitable candidates are encouraged to apply. Successful candidates will have a strong record of publication (at least one book published or under contract). Preference will be given to candidates who can teach across two or more genres. Candidates should also demonstrate a strong track record of or potential for research as well as a commitment to teaching and administrative service. Selection will be based on evidence of potential for high-quality research and effective teaching. The usual workload includes teaching two courses per semester, conducting scholarly research and contributing to university services.

Emoluments

Salary is competitive and will be commensurate with qualifications and experience. The University offers a comprehensive fringe benefit package. Information on emoluments and general terms and conditions of service is available in the section on Terms and Conditions (http://www.ntu.edu.sg/NSS/NSSHumanResources/Pages/General-Terms-for-Faculty-Positions.aspx) of Service for Academic Appointments.

Application Procedure

To apply, please refer to the Guidelines for Submitting an Application for Faculty Appointment (http://www.ntu.edu.sg/ohr/career/submit-an-application/Pages/Faculty-Positions.aspx) and send your application package [consisting of a cover letter, personal particulars form, curriculum vitae (including records of innovative curriculum development and teaching experience), teaching statement, and the names and contact details of at least three referees] to:

The Search Committee
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
School of Humanities
14 Nanyang Drive
Singapore 637332

Email: english-search@ntu.edu.sg

Applications sent via email should include a reference to “Assistant Professor (Creative Writing)” in the subject line.

Closing date for applications: 15 May 2018

Only shortlisted candidates will be notified.

Call for papers, TEXT Special Issue: ‘Climates of Change’, following the AAWP 2017 conference theme

Editors: Patrick Allington, Melanie Pryor and Piri Eddy

Creative writers have always engaged with, responded to, and inspired change through
writing. In recent years, writers have used fiction, non-fiction, and hybrid forms as vehicles
to understand, explain, and rationalise social changes; to observe, communicate, and record
moments of significant change; to commemorate or lament personal and global changes. We
write from positions of hope, anticipation, or dread, trying to make sense of an ever-changing
world.

The editors will consider scholarly and/or exegetical papers initially presented at AAWP
2017. If you are not certain if your paper is eligible for consideration, please contact Patrick
Allington at patrick.allington@flinders.edu.au.

Papers are encouraged to explore, but are not limited to, the following:

● Catalyst and consequences: the role of writing in understanding, pursuing or resisting
change at the personal, social, and/or political (local, national, global) level
● Changing landscapes (literal and figurative)
● Craft and form: changes in processes and/or publication of creative writing
● The changing climate of creative writing in academic contexts
● Perpetual change and notions of fluidity (e.g. identity, artistic expression, genres)
● Past, present, future: changes in time and space
● Evolutionary spaces in creative writing
● Remembering and forgetting: writing significant moments of change
● ‘Good’ change and ‘bad’ change: does change have an inherent value, and who decides?

Completed articles should be submitted for review by 1 March 2018. We welcome early
submissions. Papers should be a maximum of 6000 words. Please follow the information for
contributor guidelines regarding style: http://www.textjournal.com.au/send.htm.

Please submit articles to Dr Patrick Allington, Flinders University
(patrick.allington@flinders.edu.au) with ‘TEXT special edition’ in the subject line.
Please note that papers will be subject to peer review and to curatorial consideration by the
editors. As noted, the editors will only accept papers initially presented at AAWP 2017.

We are delighted to announce that the 23rd Annual AAWP Conference will be held in Perth, Western Australia from 28-30 November 2018. The Conference is jointly convened by staff from four West Australian universities and we have exciting keynote speakers planned and a great theme.

This is advance notice for those who wish to plan their year, including, we hope, a weekend break in Perth. We plan to finish at around 2pm on Friday 30 November to allow delegates to escape to one of our many gorgeous beaches, historic Fremantle, Rottnest Island or a wine bar!

A CFP with full details will be sent out in early April. We are also planning to host a postgrad masterclass the day before the Conference starts (27 November) as well as the usual postgrad panel within the Conference itself. More information will follow soon. Queries to R.Robertson@curtin.edu.au.

From the Conference Convenors – Ffion Murphy, Catherine Noske, Rachel Robertson and Anne Surma.

Paper submissions for the Inaugural Issue of CINDER journal are due 25^th January 2018.

A journal especially for creative-practice writing researchers at the start of their publishing career. Supportive, clear reviews, and opportunities to contribute to the journal administration and curation.

Submit to cinder@deakin.edu.au, or email a.pont@deakin.edu.au if you’d like to submit but had forgotten the deadline… Word docs preferred. No pdfs.

12pt serif font

1.5 line spacing

Generous-enough margins

Refer to TEXT submission guidelines for referencing conventions

Please include abstract (100w), and 6 keywords.

In the body of your email, please give us contact details, and your career or candidature stage, and University Affiliation (if possible)

(Merci)

Papers can range in length from 2.9k words to 4k max (including footnotes/endnotes not references)

Papers submitted and polished for CINDER can also become longer 6k+ papers, extended and developed for submission to TEXT, after further research. (They will have a better chance…)

We will prioritise strong papers from the 2017 AAWP conference at Flinders, however, if you did not attend, have work, and are desperate to be included, then woo us ; )

The issue will riff of the conference title “Climates of Change” in some way… but differently…

Feel welcome. We look forward to your papers.

Contributions for issue artwork also welcome.. Tell your artsy buddies.

Kind regards,

Antonia Pont & Hayley Elliott-Ryan (Managing Editors)

The 15th International Conference on the Short Story in English will take place from June 27-30, 2018 at the University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal with the theme: “Beyond History: The Radiance of the Short Story.”

In an age when private lives appear to be ruled by the force of historical events, we are contradictorily challenged by creative achievements that, even if originating in History, develop a self-sustainable energy, a radiance, so to say, that supersedes material circumstances and/or envisages alternatives for them.

The 15th International Conference on the Short Story in English brings writers of many nationalities to Lisbon, a city where the cultures of the world meet and stories of history unravel around every corner. In this scenario, fiction writers in English, or authors who have been translated into English, together with scholars of the short story, will join in reading sessions, roundtable discussions and panels, as well as in the more traditional paper presentation sessions.

In celebration of the 30th anniversary of the foundation of the Society for the Study of the Short Story, the Conference looks forward to the opportunity of highlighting the variety of ways in which the Short Story becomes a specific form, blurs the boundaries with other literary forms, goes beyond the written medium and borrows from other artistic processes/languages, shaping itself anew in an endless process. Indeed, proving to be an extremely resilient medium, the Short Story has been changing throughout the times and aesthetic tendencies, without losing the kernel that makes it a distinctive mode of the human expressive genius.

Workshops will be offered on June 26th, the day before the opening of the Conference.

For more information on how to submit, visit their website.

CINDER Journal is a new initiative from the AAWP to offer a space for a forum for original research articles up to 4,000 words from higher degree students and early career researchers (within 2 years of doctoral submission).

If you’re a postdoc and you delivered a paper to our conference in November, this would be the perfect opportunity to develop it into a peer-reviewed publication! Submissions close on January 25.

You can email the editors for more information about how to submit.