CFP: THE EUDORA WELTY SOCIETY PANEL
SAMLA 90: Fighters from the Margins: Socio-Political Activists and Their Allies
November 2–4, 2018 | Sheraton Birmingham | Birmingham, Alabama

Panel Title: Eudora Welty: Art, Activism, and Allegiances

It’s been seventeen years since Harriet Pollack and Suzanne Marrs published Eudora Welty and Politics: Did the Writer Crusade? in 2001. The conference theme of this year’s South Atlantic Modern Language Association Conference, “Fighters from the Margins: Socio-Political Activists and Their Allies,” provides an excellent opportunity to revisit Welty’s engagement with politics, activism, and messages of social justice. The conference theme encourages scholars to consider how art forms “draw from ideologies as an indispensable platform of communication to strengthen and diffuse socio-political movements.” This panel welcomes abstracts around 250 words in length. Papers for this panel might consider themes such as: politics, identity, community, activism, commitments and their negotiation, ethics, conceptions of “margin” and the power therein, as well as many others. This panel welcomes arguments on both Welty’s art as well as position papers on the state of Welty scholarship. Harriet Pollack will be the respondent for this panel. Please send abstracts, a brief bio, and any A/V requirements to Jill Fennell at jfennel3@vols.utk.edu