Author: Kirstyn Leuner

I'm an assistant professor of English at Santa Clara University. I teach and study digital humanities, British literature of the long 18th century, writing, women writers, book history, Romanticism, and more.
Announcements, CFP

Love Among the Poets: The Victorian Poetics of Intimacy (Proposed Volume)

Kirstyn Leuner

Love Among the Poets: The Victorian Poetics of Intimacy

Proposed volume of essays, edited by
Pearl Chaozon Bauer (Notre Dame de Namur University)
Erik Gray (Columbia University)

“Victorian poetry,” as Isobel Armstrong observes, “is unparalleled in its preoccupation with…what it is to love.” For this collection, we are seeking essays that explore the connection between poetry—especially lyric poetry—and the experience of love or intimacy. Some questions that contributors might address (though we welcome all approaches and ideas): How is intimacy represented, or created, by the forms, rhythms, and genres of Victorian poetry? What resources does poetry offer for expressing forms of love that fall outside the traditional marriage plot of the Victorian novel? How did love poetry circulate in the Victorian era? How does it relate to other forms of Victorian art and culture? We are looking for essays that consider a wide variety of intimate relationships: not just sexual or erotic love, but friendship, divine love, marriage, and family love, among others.

Please submit a 500-word abstract no later than August 1, 2020. If you already have a version of your argument drafted—a conference paper, for example, or a dissertation chapter—you are warmly encouraged to submit that together with the abstract. We are in contact with a university press; our aim is to submit a proposal for the collection in the fall of 2020.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the editors:
Pearl Chaozon Bauer (pchaozonbauer@ndnu.edu)
Erik Gray (e.gray@columbia.edu)

Announcements, BWWC

Travel Grant App, BWWC ’19, Due 4/1

Kirstyn Leuner

Graduate students, independent scholars, and contingent faculty are invited to apply for a BWWA travel grant for BWWC 2019. The deadline for travel grant submissions is April 1st. 

To qualify for a BWWA travel grant, applicants must:

  • Be currently enrolled as full time graduate students;
  • Be currently employed in non-tenured, part-time, or adjunct positions; or
  • Have completed their doctorates within the last ten years and be unaffiliated with any university.

Please submit the following information as an attachment to lisa.hager@uwc.edu by April 1, 2019:

  • A copy of your conference proposal
  • A brief cover letter specifying:
  • Award being applied for: Graduate Student Travel Award or Independent Scholar/ Contingent Faculty Travel Award
  • Information regarding your previous affiliation with the BWWA
  • Anticipated travel distance
  • Any other pertinent details of employment.

Submission Directions:

  • All of the application documents should be part of one single attachment file.
  • The attachment should be a MS Word doc or Adobe pdf.
  • The file name should start with the applicant’s last name (ex. smith_bwwcapp.doc).
  • The subject line of the email should indicate:
    • Award being applied for: Graduate Student Travel Award or Independent Scholar/ Contingent Faculty Travel Award
    • Period that best fits the project: early to mid 18th-century, late 18th-century to early 19th-century, mid 19th-century to early 20th-century
Alicia Carroll

Associate Professor
Faculty Advisor
BWWC 2019
English
9030 Haley Center
Auburn University
Auburn AL 36849
Office phone: 334-844-9058
Fax: (334) 844-9027
Announcements

Mary Hays: Life, Writings, and Correspondence

Kirstyn Leuner

Announcement from Timothy Whelan:

Mary Hays: Life, Writings, and Correspondence presents the most complete accounting to date of the life and career of Mary Hays (1759-1843). The website is designed to enable students and scholars to gain open and free access to all pertinent materials related to Hays’s familial and social circles, her writings, and wide correspondence, including some 90 letters by her close friend Eliza Fenwick (1766-1840) appearing for the first time in their entirety. More than 400 letters, fully annotated, are included, along with complete texts of all her periodical writings and all reviews of her own writings, as well as an extensive genealogy of Hays never before seen, the latter owing much to the diary of her long-time friend and relation through marriage, Henry Crabb Robinson (1775-1867). The site has been created, compiled, and maintained by Timothy Whelan, Georgia Southern University, and can be found at http://www.maryhayslifewritingscorrespondence.com

Announcements, BWWC, CFP

BWWC 2019: “Movement,” April 25-27

Kirstyn Leuner

Julius_Caesar_Ibbetson_-_George_Biggins'_Ascent_in_Lunardi'_Balloon_-_WGA11831The 2019 British Women Writers Conference will take place on the plains of Auburn Alabama at Auburn University. The conference will take place from April 25 through Saturday, April 27, 2019. The theme for the conference is “movement.”

From transatlantic crossings, transnational diasporas, mobility studies, and the organization of literary history, the idea of movement is rich in significance for the study of British women writers. Our conception of both periods and places is widely defined, and we invite papers that will contribute to a rich discussion of the diversity of women’s writing. Please send a 500-word abstract and a brief bio to bwwc2019@gmail.com by January 5, 2019 [extended deadline].

For more information, see our CFP on the conference website.

 

Image credit: Julius Caesar Ibbetson’s painting “George Biggins’ Ascent in Lunardi’ Balloon” (1785), [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Julius_Caesar_Ibbetson_-_George_Biggins%27_Ascent_in_Lunardi%27_Balloon_-_WGA11831.jpg

Announcements, BWWC

Travel Grant Info, BWWC 2018, Due 2/16

Kirstyn Leuner

austin-247_640Graduate students, independent scholars, and contingent faculty are invited to apply for a BWWA travel grant for BWWC 2018. The deadline for travel grant submissions is February 16, 2018. The details below are also listed on the conference website.

To qualify for a BWWA travel grant, applicants must:

• Be currently enrolled as full time graduate students;
• Be currently employed in non-tenured, part-time, or adjunct positions; or
• Have completed their doctorates within the last ten years and be unaffiliated with any university.

Please submit the following information as an attachment to lisa.hager@uwc.edu by February 16, 2018:

• A copy of your conference proposal
• A brief cover letter specifying:
– Award being applied for: Graduate Student Travel Award or Independent Scholar/ Contingent Faculty Travel Award
– Information regarding your previous affiliation with the BWWA
– Anticipated travel distance
– Any other pertinent details of employment.

Submission Directions:

• All of the application documents should be part of one single attachment file.
• The attachment should be a MS Word doc or Adobe pdf.
• The file name should start with the applicant’s last name (ex. smith_bwwcapp.doc).
• The subject line of the email should indicate:
– Award being applied for: Graduate Student Travel Award or Independent Scholar/ Contingent Faculty Travel Award
– Period that best fits the project: early to mid 18th-century, late 18th-century to early 19th-century, mid 19th-century to early 20th-century

Uncategorized

CFP for BWWC 2018 (Abstracts due 12/8/17)

Kirstyn Leuner

Call for Papers

18th- and 19th-century British Women Writers Conference

April 11-15, 2018

The University of Texas at Austin

The twenty-sixth annual BWWC invites papers and panel proposals interpreting the theme of “New Directions.” Since the landmark “Generations” conference of 2017 invites a retrospective look back, “New Directions” will encourage turning to the future to ask crucial methodological, theoretical, and content-based questions about our fields’ key concepts and literatures. [Go to the 2018 conference website.]

What do we mean by “British”? By “women”? By “writers”? We welcome papers and panel proposals addressing change, development, destabilization, and potential in terms of both British women writers and the field of British women writers scholarship. We envision panels focused around the stability of gender-, nation-, and profession-based abstractions, as well as research on individuals living at the margins of these terms.

By December 8, 2017, send 300-word abstracts for paper proposals, along with a brief bio (in one document) to:

bwwc2018@gmail.com

Panel proposals should include individual paper abstracts, short speaker bios, as well as a brief panel description (in one document). All proposals must engage the conference theme and relate to British women’s writing in the span between the eighteenth and early twentieth centuries. Graduate students are encouraged to apply for a travel grant sponsored by the BWWA.

Possible topics may include but are not limited to:

Feminist Intersections
Intersectionality
Space & Place Tension between/among feminisms
Post-structural feminism
Ecofeminism
Materialisms

Frontiers
Empire and expansion
Shifting borders
Transatlantic movement
Exploration and discovery
Postcolonial theory

Space & Place
Space and temporalities
Industrialization
Archives
The country and the city

Identity 
Fraught national identity
Trans- and queer theories
Racial spectacle/ the raced body
The subaltern/ colonization
Diversity in the academy

(R)evolutions
Enlightenment philosophy
The scientific revolution
Women in/and science
Technology
Digital pedagogy

Literary Directions
(De)constructing the canon
New directions for literary criticism
Genre stability/ instability
Visual texts
Strategic presentism

Narrative Directions
Travel writing
Mapping & globalization
Adaptations & revisions
Formal invention & experimentation
Epistolary networks

Announcements, BWWC

Info for BWWC 2017 Attendees

Kirstyn Leuner

Dear BWWC attendees,

The week of the 25th anniversary conference of the BWWC is [here!], and we’re sending along our welcome email with special events information so you may plan your stay.
We wish you safe travels and look forward to welcoming you in Chapel Hill! Please email us with questions or concerns anytime.
Doreen & Lauren
***

Find all conference updates at bwwc17.web.unc.edu.

Our hashtag for live-tweeting and live-gramming is #BWWC2017. Feel free to list your twitter handle in your PowerPoint or mention it before you begin your talk so attendees may tag you as they live-tweet your session. Thank you for supporting us online!
Follow us on Twitter @BWWC2017 and on Instagram as bwwc2017.

Please see the latest conference program at https://bwwc17.web.unc.edu/program/
***
WEDNESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY
 
Self-Guided Tour of the Ackland Art Museum, Wednesday through Sunday

The BWWC Steering committee proudly presents a tour of the Ackland Art Museum to accompany the conference. All conference attendees are invited to visit these pieces in person during their stay in Chapel Hill or to study these works on our website. The Ackland is just a few steps from the Carolina Inn and is open from 10am to 5pm on Wednesdays through Saturdays, and from 1pm to 5pm on Sundays. Admission is free.

***
 
WEDNESDAY
 
Pre-Conference Reception on Wednesday, 7pm
We’re starting this year’s series of events with a Pre-Conference Reception at Hyde Hall on the UNC Campus on Wednesday evening at 7pm. This event is included in your registration. Hyde is less than five minutes away from the Carolina Inn and we will mark the way so you can find it easily. Please see a walking map here.
***
THURSDAY
 
Breakfast at the Carolina Inn, 7:00am-8:30am (included in your registration)
 
Opening Reception on Thursday, 7pm

We invite you to join us for our Opening Reception buffet in the splendid John Lindsay Morehead Lounge, Graham Memorial, on the UNC campus, at 7pm on Thursday. A dinner ticket can be purchased for $40 at the registration desk (cash or check only). Graham Memorial is right across from Hyde Hall, and we will mark the way for you.

Pub Crawl on Thursday, 9pm

Please join us for a Pub Crawl on Thursday evening, following the Opening Reception. It is the perfect opportunity to socialize with fellow BWWC attendees and explore Chapel Hill’s bar scene. We are meeting at 9pm on Thursday, right outside Graham Memorial on the UNC campus. More information about the different pubs here. We’re happy to organize walking groups and Uber rides for attendees to ensure that everyone gets home safely.

***
FRIDAY

Breakfast at the Carolina Inn, 7:00am-8:30am (included in your registration)
 

Digital Paleography: A Beginner’s Workshop on Text Encoding and MS Letters, Friday, 10:30am

Registered workshop attendees may meet Rae Yan and Grant Glass at 10:15am outside the Carolina Inn to join a walking group to the Genome Science building where the workshop will be held. Click here for more information about the workshop.

Rare Books Exhibit, Friday, 2:30pm-4:30pm
Conference attendees wishing to explore the Rare Books Exhibit may join several walking groups that will start at the Carolina Inn’s main entrance and head for the Wilson Special Collections Library. Dr. Paula Feldman (University of South Carolina) has kindly agreed to present remarks at 4:00pm.
  • 2:15 Group led by Andrew Kim
  • 2:45 Group led by Anne Fertig
  • 3:15 Group led by Ally Palisoul
  • 3:45 Group led by Michele Robinson
Cocktail Hour and Banquet, Friday, 7pm-10pm

Our celebratory banquet is included in your conference registration and will be held at the Carolina Inn at 8pm. Conference attendees wishing to bring a non-registered guest to the banquet may purchase a banquet badge at the registration desk for $40. The banquet is preceded by a cocktail hour (cash-bar) and Chapel Hill’s famous bluegrass music program, “Fridays on the Front Porch,” at the Carolina Inn. Those in the mood for a light stroll after the evening meal are welcome to join Jane S. Gabin for a candle-light campus tour at dusk.

***
SATURDAY
 
Breakfast at the Carolina Inn, 7:00am-8:30am (included in your registration)
 
Performance of “The Song Cycles of Charlotte Smith’s Beachy Head,” Saturday, 1:30pm
Elizabeth Dolan (Lehigh University) has been working with composer Amanda Jacobs to set Smith’s Beachy Head for piano and mezzo soprano. Together they identified twenty-six songs in five cycles, which Amanda has set beautifully to music, accompanied by singer Shelley Waite. Jacobs and Waite will present all twenty-six songs for the very first time. The performance takes place in the Hill Hall auditorium (Hill Hall is across from Hyde Hall).
Plenary: Supporting Contingent Faculty, Saturday, 3:15pm
Drs. Miranda Yaggi (Indiana University), Cynthia Current (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), and Jenny Pyke (Wake Forest University) invite scholars at all career stages to join in a robust, no-holds-barred brainstorming session centered around supporting the research of non-tenure-track professionals. More information on the session here.

Transgender 101 Workshop, Saturday, 3:15pm

Dr. Lisa Hager (University of Wisconsin, Waukesha) invites you to participate in this special workshop on transgender and gender non-conforming identities, issues, lives, and activism in our workplaces and communities. More information here.
British Women Writers Association’s 25th Anniversary Celebration: Champagne, Cupcakes, & Awards, Saturday, 7pm
Please join us once more in the John Lindsay Morehead Lounge, Graham Memorial, for an hour of delicious desserts, the official announcement of our four BWWA travel award winners, reminiscences spanning 25 years of BWWA conferences, and a preview of the 2018 BWWC at Austin, Texas.
Dinner Groups on Saturday, 8pm
If you’re free on Saturday night, please sign up for one of our 14 dinner groups to enjoy a great meal with friends old and new. The dinner groups will meet at 8pm outside Graham Memorial’s main entrance and head out at around 8:15pm. Look out for the sign with your restaurant!

—

Doreen Thierauf & Lauren Pinkerton
Co-Chairs, British Women Writers Conference 2017
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Twitter: @bwwc2017
Announcements, BWWC

Transgender 101 Workshop and Discussion @ BWWC2017

Kirstyn Leuner

A Conversation about Best Practices for Supporting Transgender Folks in Higher Education & Beyond

This special session, organized and run by Lisa Hager (University of Wisconsin, Waukesha), will be held on Saturday, June 24, 2017, 3:15-4:45, in the Incubator, Hyde Hall. Link to website

trans-banner

A central part of the ethos of the Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century British Women Writers Association (BWWA) has always been its feminist politics—both in the scholarship on women writers it supports and its commitment to the work and professionalization of graduate students. If we want to continue to build on this legacy, we must make the BWWA’s feminist politics a truly trans-inclusive feminist politics.

Consequently, as we celebrate the BWWA’s twenty-fifth anniversary here in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, it is our responsibility to acknowledge and witness the violence, be it legal, physical, or social, that has been done to transgender and gender non-forming North Carolinians as a result of HB2 and its recent problematic “repeal.” We must also use this conference as a space to educate ourselves on transgender and gender non-conforming identities and issues so that we can support the lives and activism of transgender and gender non-conforming people in our workplaces and communities.

To these ends, this workshop will include the following three parts:

  • A basic introduction to transgender and gender non-conforming identities and key related concepts (please note: this portion of the session will assume no prior knowledge of these terms and concepts);
  • A discussion of North Carolina’s HB2, the grassroots activism of local LGBTQ organizations around this issue, and the deeply problematic repeal of this law;
  • A conversation about practical methods of welcoming LGBTQ+ people, especially transgender and gender non-conforming people, in higher education and our daily lives;
  • The goal of this session is to begin a thoughtful and ongoing conversation about and foster activism around issues of gender identity and sexuality in the BWWA, our home institutions, our communities, and our families.

All are welcome!

Uncategorized

BWWA Travel Grant, 2017

Kirstyn Leuner

Graduate students, independent scholars, and contingent faculty are invited to apply for a BWWA Travel Grant. To qualify, applicants must:

  • Be currently enrolled as full time graduate students;
  • Be currently employed in non-tenured, part-time, or adjunct positions; or
  • Have completed their doctorates within the last ten years and be unaffiliated with any university.
Please submit the following information as an attachment to lisa.hager@uwc.edu by March 1, 2017:
  • A copy of your conference proposal;
  • A brief cover letter specifying
    • Award being applied for: Graduate Student Travel Award or Independent Scholar/Contingent Faculty Travel Award;
    • Information regarding your previous affiliation with the BWWA;
    • Anticipated travel distance;
    • Any other pertinent details of employment.
 Submission Directions:
  • All of the application documents should be part of one single attachment file;
  • The attachment should be a MS Word .doc or Adobe .pdf;
  • The file name should start with the applicant’s last name (ex. smith_bwwcapp.doc);
  • The subject line of the email should indicate
    • Award being applied for: Graduate Student Travel Award or Independent Scholar/Contingent Faculty Travel Award;
    • Period that best fits the project:
      • early to mid-18th century;
      • late 18th century to early 19th century;
      • mid-19th century to early 20th century.
Announcements

Call for Nominations: Award for Contributions to the Study of British Women Writers

Kirstyn Leuner

As part of the organization’s ongoing mission to support, encourage, and recognize the important work being done on eighteenth- and nineteenth-century British women writers, the board of the BWWA has created an award to recognize outstanding contributions to the study of British women writers.  The award seeks to acknowledge, honor, and celebrate the various ways in which the recipient has contributed to the study of British women writers through teaching, mentoring, service, and scholarship.

This award—called the Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century British Women Writers Association Award for Contributions to the Study of British Women Writers—will be given to the important individuals in our field in order to show our deep gratitude for their example and inspiration to all scholars.

We are currently soliciting nomination for the 2017 award to be presented at the next annual conference at the University of North Carolina.  Please submit nominating letters (up to two pages) giving specific details as the nominee’s contributions to the study of British women writers to the awards committee in care of Troy J. Bassett (bassettt@ipfw.edu) by 31 January 2017.