Welty Society Minutes \u2013 SSSL Conference \u2013 Austin, Texas, February 2018<\/p>\n
In attendance:
\nHarriet Pollack, President Adrienne Akins Warfield, Treasurer \t\t\t\t Jacob Agner
\nMae Miller Claxton
\nJulia Eichelberger
\nJill Fennell
\nSarah Ford
\nRebecca Harrison
\nCarol Ann Johnston
\nSophia Leonard
\nRebecca Mark
\nPeal McHaney
\nTom McHaney
\nDonnie McMahand
\nDavid McWhirter
\nKevin Murphy
\nLaura Sloan Patterson
\nSarah Peters
\nMichael Pickard
\nDawn Trouard
\nGary Richards
\nJonathan Villalobos<\/p>\n
1.\tHarriet opened the meeting by thanking everyone for attending this business lunch, convened to take advantage of our especially good numbers at SSSL 2018.
\n2.\tShe offered special thanks to Julia Eichelberger, for her administration of and service to Welty Society, 2014-2017.
\n3.\tWe then toasted and celebrated the publication of Teaching Welty in the 21st Century, edited by Claxton and Eichelberger.
\n4.\tBy way of introduction, everyone present spoke their name and also shared news of current Welty projects they are working on
\n5.\tThen Harriet invited discussion of a next Welty Conference \u2013 When, Where, Who\u2013\u2013 and of longer term planning for conferences:
\na.\tPearl suggests EWS meetings should be in the years when the biannual SSSL conference does not meet.
\nb.\tSimilarly we should avoid conflicts with regional MLA conferences (SAMLA, SCMLA, etc.)
\nc.\tRebecca proposes we select destination locations that will appeal to members: Charleston, New Orleans, New York, Chicago, San Francisco?
\nd.\tShe mentions too that to choose New Orleans next would be difficult timing because of her new administrative responsibilities at Tulane.
\ne.\tJulia asks us to consider a writing retreat model vs. a conference model
\nf.\tPearl suggests a conference where all papers respond to a single text (for example, Losing Battles), which could then lead into a published collection of essays on that text
\ng.\tTom recalls that Natasha Trethewey and her historian husband are now at Northwestern University, and they might be a connection to Chicago
\nh.\tWe discuss the goal of bringing Welty to places where she\u2019s misconstrued
\ni.\tWe discuss the possibilities of a conference theme rather than focus on a particular text
\nj.\tJill Fennell raises a question about integrating a service component \u2013 educating high school teachers, CEU hours
\nk.\tPearl asks if we have ever tried to get a Welty title on The Big Read \u2013\u2013which Welty text would best work for this?
\nl.\tDawn calls for an unofficial vote on city possibilities \u2013 Jackson, New Orleans, or Charleston \u2013 Charleston wins the unofficial vote of cities where meeting attendees would be most likely to attend a Welty conference. New Orleans is second.
\nm.\tJulia asks, what would draw you to a Welty conference if you don\u2019t always work on Welty?
\nn.\tCan we get access to some free space at College of Charleston \u2013 a question to be investigated by Harriet and Julia
\no.\tCarol Ann Johnston brings up the possibility of proposing a Harvard commemoration of the 35th anniversary the Massey Lecture Series that had Welty as its inaugural speaker
\np.\tSarah Ford suggests that One Writer\u2019s Beginnings, the publication that came from that series, could be the key text for such a conference, possibly along with Welty\u2019s other non-fiction
\nq.\tPearl asks, what if we paired One Writer\u2019s Beginnings and The Optimist\u2019s Daughter?
\nr.\tThinking of co-hosts, we might also talk to Michael Kreyling about the Library of American Welty connection
\ns.\tSimilarly, we might talk to UP of Mississippi about being a cosponsor
\nt.\tSince The New Yorker was the original publication venue of The Optimist\u2019s Daughter, we might pursue that connection. Harriet recalls that we\u2019ve had some previous discussion of a conference centered on Welty\u2019s New York connections, in New York.
\nu.\tNow that we have so many good ideas, Pearl asks what our timeline is for a decision about when\/where our next Welty conference will be held.
\nv.\tHarriet will investigate College of Charleston and Harvard co-hosting possibilities and report back via the listserve ahead of our ALA business meeting, where we might firm up out plan.<\/p>\n
6.\tThe following EWS members express interest in serving on the Program Committee for the next Welty Conference, once we have a location determined: Sophia Leonard, Rebecca Harrison, Michael Pickard, Pearl McHaney, Rebecca Mark, David McWhirter, Mae Claxton. Others interested should contact Harriet.<\/p>\n
7.\tBriefly discussing other business, Harriet asks that panel ideas for the next year\u2019s scheduled meeting should be sent to Harriet before May 20 ( for ALA), to Sara Peters (for SCMLA), or to Jill Fennell (for SAMLA)<\/p>\n
Thanks to Adrienne Akins Warfield, Treasurer, for taking such good notes on the meeting!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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