The DePaul English Department invites you to participate in the eleventh Spring English Conference. The Spring English Conference is an annual event in which DePaul English undergraduate and graduate students present academic and creative work.

Although Covid-19 will make this year’s conference different from any other, the work we English students are doing is as important as ever, if not more so. As students of the English language, whether literature or creative writing, ours is the business of telling and interpreting stories. And whether Covid-19 influences your work directly or indirectly, stories are one of the powerful medicines we can share with each other in this strange, serious time.

This is an excellent opportunity for students to showcase their work and to share it with a positive, supportive community of DePaul faculty and peers. This year’s presentations will come in the form of pre-recorded videos posted on the Spring English Conference Website. Each video will be five minutes in length and may be in (but not limited to) the following areas:
Fiction
Creative Nonfiction
Poetry
Literary Analysis
Pedagogical and Literary Theory
Publishing, Professional, and Teaching Practices

Guidelines

1. Submit papers or creative projects (poetry collections, short fiction, novel excerpts, etc.) with short proposals (1-3 paragraphs), explaining how you will turn the work into a short (five minute or less) video.

2. For creative writers, this may mean a short reading of an entire work/a selection. For literary studies/pedagogical presenters, this may mean a short Ted-like talk, explaining your research, writing process, or some other aspect/combination of aspects of your work. Students may submit up to two works total: ONE creative piece and ONE work of literary study.

3. All video presentations, both creative and academic, will be no more than five minutes in length. Plan accordingly.

4. Please attach submissions as separate Word or .pdf files within the same email and send to englishconference.dpu@gmail.com with the subject heading “Spring English Conference Submission.”

5. Do NOT put your name or any identifying information anywhere on the submission(s). Instead, enclose a cover sheet with your submissions. The cover sheet should include the following information:
Name:
Title:
Genre:
Academic program:
Phone Number:
Email:

6. Notifications of acceptance will be sent by May 18th.

Works accepted for the conference will be grouped into panels according to genre and/or theme, and a Q&A Zoom session will be recorded for each panel. All works submitted must be original, and we encourage writers to submit recent work. In the spirit of academic fellowship, we encourage participants to look at other panelists’ presentations, and to watch our keynote video.

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: May 11th, 2020
Send submissions or any questions to englishconference.dpu@gmail.com. We look forward to reading your work!