Call for Papers and Creative Presentations: John R. Milton Writers' Conference

JOHN R. MILTON WRITERS' CONFERENCE:
A CELEBRATION OF THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF SOUTH DAKOTA REVIEW
OCTOBER 31-NOVEMBER 2, 2013
THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH DAKOTA, VERMILLION, SOUTH DAKOTA

Please join us for the biennial John R. Milton Writers' Conference: A Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of South Dakota Review, held October 31-November 2, 2013, at The University of South Dakota in Vermillion, South Dakota.

In celebration of the 50th Anniversary of South Dakota Review, we are seeking panel proposals, roundtable proposals, and scholarly papers related (either explicitly or implicitly) to the theme of Memory, Remembrance, Commemoration and the American West. Possible topics or approaches might include, but aren’t limited to memory, (mis)remembering, remembrance, commemoration and:

• Western American literature, history, and culture;
• broken treaties, obligatory assimilation, as well as post-colonial and/or indigenous studies in American Indian literature, history, and culture;
• the 40th anniversary of Wounded Knee;
• environmental issues and ecocriticism;
• the American West as myth and fantasy space;
• discourses of difference/otherness, including multiculturalism, race, and ethnicity in the American West;
• shifting representations of gender and/or queerness in the American West;
• Manifest Destiny;
• the role of virtual culture, cyberspace as “new frontier,” and simulacra in the American West; and
• popular culture (including, but not limited to, HBO's Deadwood and Joss Whedon's Firefly, Westerns (both film and television), graphic novels, and science fiction).

For critical work, please submit a 250-word abstract, along with a brief biographical note, by August 15, 2013. Panel proposals should include individual paper abstracts and biographical notes for all of the participating panelists, in addition to a 250-word justification for the panel. Roundtable proposals should include a 250-word justification for the roundtable session, along with biographical notes for the participating round table session members.

For creative submissions, please submit either 8-10 pages of poetry, or no more than 25 pages of creative prose writing, along with a short biographical note, by August 15, 2013. While creative work that either explicitly or implicitly addresses the conference theme, or is related in some way to region or landscape are always welcome, all types of creative work on any theme and in any style will be gladly considered for readings at the conference's creative writing panels.

All submissions should be sent to Lee Ann Roripaugh at
Lee.RoripaughATusdDOTedu (Change AT to @ and DOT to .)

Lee Ann Roripaugh
Professor of English
Director of Creative Writing
Editor-in-Chief, South Dakota Review
The University of South Dakota
414 E. Clark Street
Vermillion, SD 57069