In 2002, the year before the opening of Chawton House Library, as a research collection and centre for research in women’s writing of the long eighteenth century, a call for papers was sent out from the University of Southampton and Chawton House Library inviting proposals for an international conference to be held in July 2003. The resulting presentations focused on the rich field for the study of women writers and their careers, celebrating the range of women whose writing was seen as key to, as the original call for papers put it, « the early shaping of our tangled modernity ». For three days, distinguished colleagues and scholars reflected on and debated the state of the field.
Ten years on, in July 2013, Chawton House Library will celebrate the anniversary of its opening. With the University of Southampton, and the University of Kent, we invite colleagues to reflect on all aspects of the writing of women of the long eighteenth century. We are particularly interested in papers that celebrate the achievements of the last decade since the opening conference in 2003, as well as papers that map new directions, and reflect upon the work still to be done in the writing of women’s literary history.
Please send abstracts for 20-minute papers, or shorter contributions to roundtables, to one of the panel or roundtable organisers on the email addresses given in the Topics and discussions document: Topics and discussions
Please do not propose multiple abstracts to different sessions. For all general enquiries, please contact Gillian Dow, Director of Research at Chawton House Library, on g.dow@soton.ac.uk.
The deadline for all abstracts to reach panel and roundtable organisers is 14 January 2013. We will aim to have a final decision on acceptance by end February 2013.