Willa Cather and Aestheticism

Sarah Watson and Ann Moseley are co-editing a volume of essays to be entitled Willa Cather and Aestheticism. We are seeking insightful and well-written (not previously published) essays that explore connections between Willa Cather and relevant aspects of aestheticism, especially of the Nineteenth-Century Aesthetic Movement. In making connections to Cather's life, career, and art, writers may want to include social, cultural, and historical elements, but the focus should be clearly grounded in Cather's work itself. Possible topics include the following, but other aspects regarding the relationship between Cather and the Aesthetic Movement will be considered:

• The relevance to Cather of basic tenets of the Aesthetic Movement, especially as advocated and promoted by its leader Walter Pater
• The Aesthetic Movement's reaction against didacticism in literature and art as related to Cather
• The interest in medievalism and chivalry as reflected in the Aesthetic Movement and its forerunner, the Pre-Raphaelite Movement
• Spiritual and religious elements of the Aesthetic Movement (or of aestheticism) as related to Cather
• The Aesthetic Movement in painting, visual art, architecture, and/or material culture, as related to Cather
• Connections between the "art for art's sake" element of the Aesthetic Movement and Cather
• Gender issues arising out of the Aesthetic Movement as related to Cather
• The connection between the Aesthetic Movement and Modernism as related to Cather
• A more general and theoretical-but ultimately focused-concept of aestheticism from the past and present as related to Cather's work

A 350 to 400-word abstract and a 100 to 150-word biography should be submitted to Sarah Watson (with a copy to Ann Moseley) no later than Nov. 1, 2008. Final essays of approximately 4000-5000 words (15-20 double-spaced pages), including notes and Works Cited, will be accepted through July 15, 2009. We will announce publication plans before papers are due.

Contact information:

Sarah Cheney Watson
Professor of English
1209 N. Grove
East Texas Baptist University
Marshall, Texas Commerce, Texas 75429
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903-923-2286

Robert Frost and Willa Cather Call for Papers

In cooperation with the Willa Cather Society, the Robert Frost Society invites papers that explore the relationship between Robert Frost and Willa Cather. Near Contemporaries who genuinely admired each other's art, Frost and Cather display important thematic, stylistic, and philosophical affinities that have largely gone unexamined. All topics will be considered. Biographical, thematic, theoretical, eco-critical, and linguistic analyses particularly welcome.

Session 2:
Papers on all aspects of Robert Frost's writing and related topics are welcomed.

Please submit proposals or papers via e-mail before 10 January 2009, to the program chair:

Robert Bernard Hass
President, Robert Frost Society
217 Centennial Hall
Edinboro University
Department of English and Theatre Arts
Edinboro, Pennsylvania 16444
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Audio-visual equipment: The ALA will normally provide the following: slide projectors and screens, vcr-dvd equipment, cd or cassette tape players, and projectors for PowerPoint presentations.

Conference Information: The American Literature Association's 20th annual conference will meet at the Westin Copley Place in Boston on 21-24 May 2009 (Thursday through Sunday of Memorial Day weekend). For further information, please consult the ALA website at www.americanliterature.org or contact the conference director Professor Alfred Bendixen via email (abendixen_at_tamu.edu).

Location: The Westin Copley Place, 10 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02116-5798, (617-262-9600)
Conference Fee: For those who pre-register before April 15, 2007: $85
($50 for Graduate Students, Independent Scholars, and Retired Faculty)
After April 15, the fees are $100 and $60.

Call for Papers At ALA