The University Libraries of South Carolina

University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC

Deadline for Abstracts (150-500 words): June 22, 2012

Additional conference information, including registration information, accommodations, and conference schedule is forthcoming.

The University Libraries of the University of South Carolina and the William Gilmore Simms Society invite all interested scholars to a conference exploring the life and works of William Gilmore Simms (1806-1870), the antebellum South’s most prolific writer and one of its best-known public intellectuals as novelist, poet, critic, and historian.

The University of South Carolina welcomes academics from all disciplines, especially history, literature, philosophy, and political science, to contribute papers on any aspect of Simms’s life and work for this major national conference. While the conference will address Simms and his writing from all perspectives, one theme will focus on placing Simms’s life and career in the context of the development of American letters. Presenters are encouraged to examine topics such as Simms’s role in the Young America movement, the development of American cultural and literary nationalism, Simms as an originator of literary styles and forms, Simms’s involvement in the world of publishing and the early literary marketplace, the author’s aesthetic theories, and  Simms’s career and writings in relation to his contemporaries. Scholars are invited to explore the resources available through the Simms Initiatives website (simms.library.sc.edu). Papers will also be considered for a volume of The Simms Review, a refereed journal published by the Simms Society. A prize for the best student paper will be offered, which includes complimentary registration; to be considered, complete papers, not abstracts, must be submitted by June 22, 2012

Please join us at the historic campus of the University of South Carolina for this gala three-day event, Sept. 27-Sept. 29, 2012. Abstracts (150-500 words) are due June 22, 2012.

Send via e-mail, along with a brief (50-100 words) biography, to: TCLSIMMS@mailbox.sc.edu.

Please imbed the information in the e-mail, not via attachment. Direct questions to the same e-mail address.

A PDF version of this information is available HERE.