CFP - ASAL 2009 (8-11 July 2009; ANU, Canberra) - Deadline: FRI 27 Feb 2009

ASAL 2009: Common Readers and Cultural Critics
8-11 July 2009
University House, Australian National University, Canberra

12 July 2009
Public symposium: 'Writers, Readers and Critics', National Library of Australia, Canberra

CONFERENCE WEBSITE: http://asal2009.anu.edu.au/

CALL FOR PAPERS
Australian literature is not just a collection of texts: it is a diverse set of formal and informal cultures—from school curricula to bestseller lists, from university courses to writers' festivals—that all have their own ways of talking about texts and their own forms of cultural expertise. This conference seeks to explore the diversity of readers and modes of reading that make up Australian literary culture. How do ‘everyday' readers form judgements about what they read and what they like? What are the relationships between everyday readers and ‘specialist' readers in industries such as publishing and marketing, print and electronic media, and in institutions such as schools and universities, libraries and archives? How much influence do critics, reviewers and cultural commentators have on readers' tastes and habits—and vice versa? Who ultimately decides what books get published, what books win prizes, what books are taught in schools, and what books make up the Australian literary canon? Literary cultures are characterised by tensions between tradition and innovation, reading privately and reading professionally, reading for knowledge and reading for pleasure.

We invite proposals for 20-minute papers and for 90-minute panel discussions (3 or 4 speakers) that address any aspect of literary cultures, such as the following:

• Everyday readers and the history of the popular / literary cultural divide
• The role of reviewers and critics in influencing tastes and making careers
• The roles of publishers, marketers, booksellers and bestseller lists
• Literary festivals and writers as performers and promoters of their own work
• The role and influence of literary prizes
• Reading communities such as book clubs, blogs, community education
• Histories and analyses of Australian literary criticism
• School and university curricula and the Australian literary canon
• Revisions and re-evaluations of canonical and non-canonical Australian writers and texts
• Adaptations of Australian literary texts for film and other media
• The transnational boundaries of Australian literature
• Australian children's and young adult literature: publishing and readerships
• Libraries, archives and cultural heritage
• Creative writing programs
• Little magazines, grassroots publishing, zines
• Reading facebook and other social networking programs
• The new empiricism, distant reading, resourceful reading
• The ongoing impact of the 'culture wars'

Please send 200-word abstracts of papers or panel proposals, with a brief biographical note, to Russell.Smith@anu.edu.au by Friday 27 February 2009.

We welcome proposals from postgraduate students. Copyright Agency Limited (CAL) has generously provided ten postgraduate scholarships, covering costs of travel and accommodation, available to postgraduate students whose own institutions are unable to support their attendance. To enquire about postgraduate scholarships, please contact Julieanne.Lamond@anu.edu.au by 27 February 2009.

ASAL 2009 organising committee: Julieanne.Lamond @ anu.edu.au , Lucy.Neave @ anu.edu.au , Monique.Rooney @ anu.edu.au and Russell.Smith @ anu.edu.au (School of Humanities, Australian National University)

ASAL 2009 is generously supported by the Copyright Agency Limited’s Cultural Fund, Arts ACT, the Australian National University and ASAL.