This update is to alert people that the deadline has been pushed back to 2/15/02 and to emphasize our emphasis on receiving creative works along with critical ones. Please pass this on to your students. Thanks! Zac Call for Papers--"Time of Transition: Developing Regional Literatures" A Regional Conference on Literature and Film for Students and Faculty Will Weaver–Keynote Speaker Friday, April 5, 2002 You are invited to submit presentation proposals for a conference focusing on the development of regional literature and film across the United States sponsored by the English Department graduate students at Minnesota State University, Mankato. We welcome proposals that represent a variety of responses to regional literature and film and all the spurs that arise from the relationship between the author and location(s). Region can be considered by traditional denominations such as "Northeast" and "Southwest" and creative appellations that involve fictional regions and originally-demarcated regions that arise from scholarly research, as well. Implicit in all of this is the fact that original creative work makes all of these theoretical considerations possible. If you have a story, poem, drama, film, or any other creative work to share that is regional in nature, we would very much like to hear it. Proposals may either be individual- or panel-oriented. These should include the following: a title; an abstract not to exceed 300 words per individual; and a brief one paragraph statement about the presenter, including academic affiliation, mailing address, and email address. Panel proposals should also include panel title. Please mention any audio/visual requirements your presentation will require. Paper and panel topics include, but are not limited to the following: • Specific Regional Authors • Regionalism as Critical Theory • Regionalism and Its Relation to Film, Dance, Theater, Art, Memoir, Etc. • Regionalism and Its Relation to Theory, Diaspora, Borderlands, Generational Development, the Influence of the Homeland, the Immigrant Experience, Etc. • Regionalism in a Variety of Settings–The City and the Backwoods, Triumph and Despair, High Brow and Low Brow, Etc. • Interdisciplinary Approaches to Regional Literature • Creative Works of a Regional Nature (Film, Poetry, Art, Fiction, Etc.) All abstracts should be received no later than Friday, March 1, 2002. Notification of acceptance will be sent by Friday, February 29, 2002. Submit abstracts to: Spring 2002 Time of Transition Conference, English Department, Minn. St. U., Mankato, 230 Armstrong Hall, Mankato, MN 56001. Fax: (507) 389-5362. Phone: (507) 389-1022. Email: <[log in to unmask]>. Go online at: <http://www.english.mnsu.edu/hanson/call_for_papers.htm>. Minnesota State University, Mankato is an affirmative action/equal opportunity educator and employer. This document is available in alternative format to individuals with disabilities by calling the Department of English at (507) 389-2117 or (800) 327-3529 (MRS/TTY). Notes on the Keynote Speaker: Will Weaver writes fiction for adults and young adults. He was born in northern Minnesota in 1950 and grew up on a dairy farm. He graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1972 (B.A., English) and finished his M.A. in English/Creative Writing at Stanford University. His six books of fiction and many short stories have earned him critical acclaim and a loyal audience of readers who appreciate high quality realism. He writes from a "regional" background of farm and small town life, often focusing on the great changes swirling across American's heartland. His story "Dispersal" was voted by the Library of Congress as one of the top ten stories of 1985. Several of his stories, including "Dispersal" and "A Gravestone Made of Wheat" have been produced by National Public Radio. Mr. Weaver's debut novel, Red Earth, White Earth, was published in 1986 by Simon & Schuster, and was produced as a CBS television movie in 1989 starring Genevieve Bujold, Richard Farnsworth, Ralph Waite and Timothy Daly. A Gravestone Made of Wheat & other Stories (Simon & Schuster 1989) won many awards, including the Minnesota Book Award for Fiction. The New York Times Book Review called it "A graceful collection, one that views America's heartland with a candid but charitable eye." Now in its fourth paperback edition with Graywolf Press (Saint Paul), the Gravestone Made of Wheat collection continues to make its contribution to Midwestern literature. Will Weaver recently has written several award-winning works for young adults. His novels Striking Out, Farm Team and Hard Ball (HarperCollins 1993/95/98) were chosen variously as American Library Association "Best Books" for young adults, and selected to school recommended reading lists in Texas, South Carolina, Iowa and elsewhere. Striking Out won a "Pick of the Lists" award from the International Reading Association. His short fiction for young adults can be found in many anthologies, including Ultimate Sports, No Easy Answers, and Time Capsule (Delacorte Press 1995,1997,1999). He is a featured author in most new textbooks on young adult literature (notably the popular Literature for Young Adults, 6th edition, edited by Nilsen/Donelson and published by Prentice Hall). His young adult fiction is used increasingly across the country by middle and high school teachers who appreciate his narrative style, one that combines reader accessibility with literary value. His newest short story "WWJD" is found in On the Fringe, edited by Don Gallo (Dial Press 2001). This anthology of short fiction by selected young adult authors implicitly addresses the events at Columbine High School in Colorado, 1998. On the Fringe explores, imaginatively and without comment, the nature of alienation among teenagers of today. Mr. Weaver's newest young adult novel is Memory Boy (HarperCollins, March 2001). He is at work on a sequel to Red Earth, White Earth plus a collection of short stories for adults, and travels widely speak on issues of writing and literacy. Will Weaver is married, has two teenagers and teaches writing at Bemidji State University in northern Minnesota. ----------------------------------------------------------- Donald F. Larsson, English Department, AH 230 Minnesota State University Mankato, MN 56001 ---- To sign off Screen-L, e-mail [log in to unmask] and put SIGNOFF Screen-L in the message. Problems? Contact [log in to unmask]