CALL FOR PAPERS:
Proposals and Abstracts:
We welcome and encourage proposals and abstracts for the 16th International Conference on the Short Story in English, June 23-26, 2021, in Rende, Italy at the University of Calabria (UNICAL).
Proposals:
• Anyone wishing to pre-arrange a panel on a given theme or topic must first secure agreement from all members of the suggested panel and then submit a proposal.
• Most panels have three presenters, although some may have more.
• Proposals should include a 250-300-word description of the topic and full contact information for all members of the group.
• Normally, the person submitting the proposal is the chair of the session. He or she may also be a presenter, but need not be; however, all presenters, including the chair, must be registered for the conference.
• Panels are scheduled for 75 minutes; there are also 90 minute panels based on number of presenters or need, depending on topic. Ninety (90) minute panels may be requested, however, they are not guaranteed.
Abstracts:
• All persons wishing to give a paper at the conference, including all members of pre-arranged panels, must submit a 300-500-word abstract.
• Individual papers should be scheduled for 20 minutes.
• Presenters must prepare their presentations so as not to exceed the time limits.
• By submitting an abstract, authors give permission for it to be published on the conference web site and in the printed conference booklet.
Please submit all proposals and abstracts by February 1st, 2021, via the online SUBMISSION FORM.
• Only registrants may present papers or organize or moderate panels. Final acceptance hinges on registration (Registration forms and details will be posted later on this web page).
Suggested Topics:
• History of the Short Story
• Literary Movements and the Short Story
• Children’s literature: format, illustration, design, issues related to the content, etc.
• Children’s short story: Definition
• Short Fiction Theory
• Short Story Subgenres
• Short Story and the Canon
• Short Story versus the novel: What’s the problem?
• Short Story and Psychology
• Short Story and Philosophy
• Genre Slippage
• Closure in the Short Story
• Short Story Rhetoric
• Short Story and Storytelling
• Short-Short Stories or Flash Fiction
• Short Story Cycles
• Short Story and Life Writing
• Short Story – Fiction versus Faction
• Writing the Short Story
• Translating the Short Story
• Flash Fiction
• Flash Fiction Criticism, Form, and Issues
• Short Story and Culture
• The Italian Short Story
• The Canadian Short Story: Definition?
• Short Story Criticism
• Short Story and the Visual Arts/Dance/Music/Theater
• Short Story and the Media/Film/Hypertext/Multimedia
• Short Story and Code Switching
• Modernism and the Short Story
• Postcolonialism and the Short Story
• Short Story Editing and Anthologizing
• Short Story Publishing
• Short Story Reception
• Short Story and Pedagogy
• Magical Realism and the short story
• Ecology and the Short Story
• The Queer Short Story
• Adaptations of the Short Story
• Food, Culinary Culture and the Short Story
• Wine and the Short Story
• Suggested Ways of Writing Short Stories
• National traditions (e.g., Irish, Australian, Canadian, Taiwanese, German, Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish…)
• Short stories and politics: should short stories address current political or social issues; does the writer have this responsibility or not?
• Gay and Lesbian short stories; and Short Story issues
• Anglophone short stories from other countries and continents
• Philosophy and the Short Story
• Historical approaches to the Short Story
• The Short Story and the oral tradition
• Multilingualism and the Short Story
• Short Story and Migration
• Short Story and Disability