The Edwidge Danticat Society will be involved in a second panel at the ALA, which we are co-sponsoring. The panel “Woman Thinking: Public Intellectualism in U.S. Periodical Culture” responds to Ralph Waldo Emerson’s description of the ideal citizen as “man thinking” and seeks to draw attention to the ways that women have contributed, through their many vibrant contributions publications in periodicals, to public intellectualism in the U.S. We were pleased to be asked to co-sponsor this panel because of the many contributions that Edwidge Danticat has made to periodicals, especially in her work as a contributor to the New Yorker.

The Edwidge Danticat Society encourages submissions that thoughtfully examine Danticat’s contributions to the rich history of public intellectualism in American Literature. The CFP can be found here.

The American Literature Association Conference is May 26-29, 2016

Hyatt Regency in San Francisco

The Edwidge Danticat Society invites papers for a panel at the 27^h Annual American Literature Association conference. In light of Edwidge Danticat’s most recent concern with the Haitian/Dominican border and citizenship crisis, we welcome papers that explore Danticat’s activist and creative work in relationship to borders, citizenship, and denationalization.

The Edwidge Danticat Society invites proposals for 15-minute presentations, possible topics include:

• Re-thinking borderlands and citizenship through Edwidge Danticat’s works
• Questions of Exile and Belonging in Haiti and the Haitian Diaspora, i.e.,Dominicans of Haitian descent
• Representations of Dominican and Haitian Borders
• Dominican Republic Citizenship Ruling and Denationalization
• Intersections of Literature and Social Activism in Danticat’s work (Citizenship Ruling)

By December 20, 2015, please submit a 150 word biography, 300 word abstract (including working title) and any a/v needs to Megan Feifer, megan.feifer@edwidgedanticatsociety.org.

Membership with the Edwidge Danticat Society is required for panelists, but it is not required to submit proposals for consideration.

Membership dues to the Edwidge Danticat Society (www.edwidgedanticatsociety.org) must be paid by March 15, 2015. ALA conference registration (www.americanliteratureassociation.org) must be paid by March 15, 2015, or papers/panels will not appear in the conference program.

We are officially up and running as a society dedicated to the encouragement and sponsorship of the works –literary and activist—of Edwidge Danticat. This project has been a labor of love for all involved, and we are delighted to have the opportunity to share it with the world.

Our first plan of action is to build our membership base. If you haven’t already, please do consider joining the society. You can find information regarding membership on the Join Us page. Also, please follow us on Facebook at the Edwidge Danticat Society community page, and on Twitter @ED_Society1, where we post news and information about Edwidge Danticat. Please do share the society and its mission with your colleagues.

We will be holding our first annual business meeting and panel presentation at the American Literature Association Annual Conference in San Francisco, May 2016. These meetings are open to all EDS members.

Members, please contact us if you are planning to attend a conference and you would like to convene a panel on Danticat’s work on behalf of the society, as we can approve your CFP and promote it to members for submissions.

Stay tuned for information from the EDS Blog:

-Edwidge Danticat Society panel at American Literature Association in San Francisco, CFP

Check the website for updated pages:

-Edwidge Danticat Syllabus and Teaching Resources Archive

-Critical Bibliography on the works of Edwidge Danticat

Forthcoming for members:

-Edwidge Danticat Society Biannual Newsletter