CALL FOR PAPERS

Royal Holloway, University of London

In association with The British Association for American Studies (BAAS) and the

United States Embassy, London

Faulkner Studies in the UK: A Colloquium

Senate House, London. May 31^st, 2018.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Professor Tim Armstrong, Royal Holloway, University of London

(Author of The Logic of Slavery: Debt, Technology, and Pain in American Literature [2012])

This colloquium is the first of a series of events intended to found a Faulkner Studies in the UK Research Network, hosted by the Department of English at Royal Holloway, and in association with the British Association for American Studies (BAAS) and the US Embassy, London. The Network serves as a key counterpoint to the abundant focus on American modernist author William Faulkner in the United States; it formalises an upsurge in critical material on Faulkner and the growing interest in Southern Studies in recent years among UK scholars.

We invite proposals for twenty-minute papers on any topic related to Faulkner, along with panel and/or roundtable proposals from postgraduate students. All critical approaches to Faulkner’s work are welcomed. Possible topics of presentation could include:

• Faulkner in relation to the UK, Europe, and the World.
• Faulkner and the notion of “Southernness.”
• The presence of race, slavery, and/or the Jim Crow South in Faulkner.
• The impact of war and/or trauma on Faulkner’s characters.
• Death and mortality in Faulkner’s fiction.
• Faulkner’s narrative voices.
• Faulkner’s reflections on disability in his novels.
• Issues of sexuality and gender in Faulkner.
• Queer readings of Faulkner texts.
• Faulkner’s attraction to New Orleans.

Abstract proposals of 250–300 words, accompanied by a short bio, should be sent to the organiser, Ahmed Honeini, at ahmed.honeini.2015@live.rhul.ac.uk by April 7th, 2018. Presenters will be notified of acceptance of their papers by April 14^th, 2018.

With the generous support of BAAS and the US Embassy, we are able to award up to 5 bursaries of £100 each to postgraduate students who wish to present a paper at the Colloquium but are unable to meet travel costs. Students who wish to apply for a bursary must write a letter of application, stating how one’s presentation topic will contribute to Faulkner Studies in the UK, and must also provide a budget showing how the award will be spent. Bursary applications must be submitted with the abstract proposal by April 7^th, 2018. Recipients will be notified by April 14^th, 2018.