Submit for possible inclusion in our guaranteed panel for our affiliation with the ALA
at their conference in May
American Literature Association
36th Annual Conference
May 21-24, 2025
The Westin Copley Place
10 Huntington Avenue
Boston, MA 02116
Theme: Reading Multiethnic Literature as Guidance in Times of Trouble
Abstracts due: Dec. 6
When in Morrison’s Beloved Paul D leans over and says to Sethe, “[W]e got more yesterday than anybody. We need some kind of tomorrow,” his words gesture to Sankofa, the Akan symbol which indicates that the past contains the wisdom that we need to move forward. Here and now in US history, this panel applies Sankofa as symbol in literatures of historically excluded populations. MELUS invites individual paper proposals that examine multicultural literatures of the US for what readers may glean as guidance for how to move forward after a time of trauma. Specifically, we are interested in papers that consider how the works of multiethnic creators illustrate the ways in which traumas–historical or contemporary -help to envision better futures.
Please send abstracts of 250 words, a CV, and a short bio to Sherry Johnson at johnsshe@gvsu.edu by December 06.