Call for Papers:
13th International Conference
of the Association of Caribbean
Women Writers and Scholars
The Association of Caribbean Women Writers and Scholars (ACWWS) calls for proposals for it 13th International Conference, which will take place on May 8-12, 2012, in Paramaribo, Suriname. The conference theme this year is “The Caribbean: Women’s Efforts, Women’s Lives.” The deadline for submissions is still January 31, 2012 (membership in ACWWS is a requirement for participation in the conference).
Description: The theme of the conference—Women’s Efforts, Women’s Lives—links the title to issues of gender, which is an utmost concern of the association. It also indicates the role of women as a fruitful one in building Caribbean communities. We can even take the theme literally as we think of the many women who worked (and still work) the Caribbean soil to grow food and other agricultural products to make a living. With all the active players on the field of literature in Suriname and the huge cultural variety, this conference aims to look at the new challenges in the writing and studying of creative writing in a kaleidoscopic way. The theme covers a broad range of subtopics on which participants can elaborate in their papers.
The organizers suggest the following subtopics: Tributes to women living in the Caribbean; literature and politics: the female voice; female struggle for freedom of speech / against oppression; history: the female indentured laborer; women in slavery; indigenous women during colonial times; future: visionary women; ethnic background: problem or opportunity; cross-cultural fertilization; female sexuality; mothers (in relation to son); daughters (and the absent father figure); female mythical characters in Caribbean literature; female economics (career building, survival strategies); publishing strategies in the Caribbean; critics’ review of Caribbean literature; modernizing oral tradition (techniques, genres, contents); geography (e.g. rainforest/island) as literary space; Caribbean writers in education; and mother tongues, the language of Empire as a barrier against creativity.
For papers/panels, please submit title, a 200-word abstract, and a short bio by January 31, 1012. All papers must represent new, previously unpublished work. Please include your full name, institutional affiliation, title, phone number and email address with your proposal. Performance artists are also encouraged to submit proposals for music, film and/or theatre presentations.
The organizers strongly encourage panel proposals. A panel proposal should include a detailed abstract for each paper, a designated chair, and a short statement as to why the submissions should be considered as a panel rather than as individual presentations.
Submissions should be emailed to: ismene.krishnadath@gmail.com or heneus@sr.net
For more information, see www.acwws.org
Image: “Free Woman of Color and Household Slaves” (circa 1831) by Pierre Jacques Benoit in Voyage à Surinam . . . cent dessins pris sur nature par l’auteur (Brussels, 1839), as shown on www.slaveryimages.org (compiled by Jerome Handler and Michael Tuite, and sponsored by the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities and the University of Virginia Library); see http://hitchcock.itc.virginia.edu/Slavery/details.php?categorynum=9&categoryName=&theRecord=7&recordCount=56