Call for Papers on Willa Cather:
American Literature Association 2018, May 24-27, San Francisco

The Willa Cather Society seeks proposals for two panels for the 29th annual conference of the American Literature Association at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco on May 24-27, 2018.

As 2018 is the centenary of the publication of Cather's My Ántonia, we will dedicate one panel to new interpretations of this pivotal novel. Topics for consideration might include:

• Exploring My Ántonia in light of immigration and diversity in the United States, from the late 19th century through today;
• My Ántonia in the classroom, with a focus on how to approach the difficult subjects of the text, such as suicide and xenophobia;
• New readings of My Ántonia made possible by Cather's letters;
• My Ántonia in light of its regional and/or environmental setting, particularly considering new approaches to the global Midwest or the rural/urban divide in United States culture.

For our second panel, we seek the best in contemporary Cather scholarship, including, but not limited to:

• Re-assessments of Cather's work in connection to her literary contemporaries;
• Innovative approaches to Cather's form, and to her understanding of literary form;
• Critical interpretations of Cather's work in relation to the arts;
• Transdisciplinary perspectives of Cather in the context of globalization, gender, sexuality, capitalism, and/or modernity.

Please submit proposals (no longer than a page with a header including name, institutional affiliation, and e-mail contact information) no later than December 18, 2017 to Charmion Gustke, charmion.gustke@belmont.edu. Please attach your abstract as a Word document and paste the text into your e-mail message. Acceptances will be issued by January 15, 2018. Papers accepted for these panels will not undergo any additional level of review—acceptance for the panels constitutes acceptance for the conference.

For further information about the conference generally, please consult the ALA website at www.americanliterature.org or contact the conference director, Professor Leslie Petty via email (pettyL@rhodes.edu), with specific questions. For questions about the Cather Society panels, please contact Charmion Gustke.

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