Call for Papers
Paper Abstracts
All persons wishing to give a paper at the conference, including all members of pre-arranged panels, must submit a 200 word abstract. Please use the form at the bottom of the page.
Individual papers will be scheduled for 20-25 minutes. Presenters must prepare their presentations so as not to exceed this limit.
By submitting an abstract, authors give permission for it to be published on the conference website and in the printed conference booklet. Please send the abstract to Dr. Jay Ruud, the Program Director: jruud@retired.uca.edu. He is the one who approves them, and they must be approved for the scholar to be on the program.
Presenters should include their academic affiliation, their institution’s city and country, and a valid email address.
Panel 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. Please use the form at the bottom of the page.
Normally, the person submitting the proposal is the chair of the session. They may also be a presenter, but need not be; however, all presenters, including the chair, must be registered for the conference.
All sessions (writers and scholars) are monitored. They are 90 minutes, including a 15-minute Q&A.
Please send the panel proposals to both Dr. Ruud and Dr. Maurice A. Lee at jruud@retired.uca.edu and mauricel@retired.uca.edu. Panels must be approved.
Panel organizers must make sure to include the names, affiliations, and contact information of everyone on their panel.
Suggested Topics
Please note that these are suggested topics, and that scholars may write on these or suggest others to write on. If you have other topics to suggest, please do not hesitate to inform the Director and Program Director at any time.
We welcome and encourage proposals and abstracts on the theme of ''A Resounding Bell: The Call of the Short Story” as well as on any of the following suggested topics:
History of the Short Story
Literary Movements and the Short Story
Children’s Literature: Genre, Format, Illustration, Design, Issues related to the Content
Children’s Short Story: Definition
Short Fiction Theory
Short Story Subgenres
Short Story and the Canon
Short Story versus the Novel
Short Story and Psychology
Short Story and Philosophy
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
Racism and the Short Story
Flash Fiction
Flash Fiction Criticism, Form, and Issues
Short Story and Culture
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
Short Story and Drama
The Short Story Play
Magical Realism and the Short Story
Ecology and the Short Story
Adaptations of the Short Story
Food, Culinary Culture and the Short Story
Climate Change and the Short Story
Why some topics are difficult for the short story form
Why some topics are difficult for short story writers
Suggested Ways of Writing Short Stories
National Traditions (e.g., Asian, Singaporean, Irish, Australian, Canadian, Taiwanese, German etc.)
Anglophone Short Stories from other Countries and Continents
Philosophy and the Short Story
The Short Story, Gender and Sexuality
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
The short story form; when is enough enough.