Branch Conference 2025

Works in Progress

Online Conference (hosted by the University of Liverpool)

22–23 April 2025

 

We are delighted to present the Call for Papers for the ICLS British and Irish Branch Online Conference 2025. This conference, to be hosted by Rebecca Dixon (Liverpool), will run during the week of 22nd April; exact dates will be confirmed when we have the programme finalised in the new year, but we expect to run it over 2–3 days to avoid excessive extended screen use. Proposals of up to 200 words should be submitted to the organiser Rebecca Dixon (rjdixon@liverpool.ac.uk) by 31st January 2025.

The conference theme will be ‘Works in Progress’. Medieval textuality was embodied, customized and locally specific; it was also dynamic and multifarious, with texts seen as links in a chain of transmission. We invite proposals which celebrate the mobility and mutability of literary culture in the Middle Ages, and of the medieval as represented in later periods. The suggested format is 20-minute papers, but we are also keen to receive proposals for full panels, including alternative formats (e.g. round table, lightning talks…) We also invite proposals for speakers to present their own work in progress, interpreting the theme as an invitation to test an idea at an early stage. Proposers will be notified of the outcome by the end of February. Please note that speakers should be members of the ICLS or have joined by the time of the conference.

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We are also delighted to announce that this conference will feature the inaugural ICLS British and Irish Branch Early Career Scholar Prize, through which we hope to platform and support the work of Early Career Scholars. This prize, of £100, will be awarded to one applicant who will be selected to give a 45-minute plenary at the conference. All other submissions to the Prize will automatically be considered for a 20-minute paper as part of the main conference programme.

To apply, please send a 500-word abstract and CV to the Branch Secretary, Tom Hinton (t.g.hinton@exeter.ac.uk) by the CfP deadline of 31st January 2025. Applicants should be current PhD students or no more than seven years post-PhD award (not including career interruptions) and not in a permanent post at the time of application. Any enquiries about the ECS Prize (including any further eligibility queries) should be sent to the Branch Treasurer at the above address.