Editor’s Chair: 7th International Conference on the State of Mark Twain Studies
Mark Twain’s study on the campus of Elmira College. Photo by Tracy Wuster.
Every four years, the Center for Mark Twain Studies in Elmira, New York sponsors a conference on Mark Twain–this year is the 7th International Conference on the State of Mark Twain Studies. Don’t let the formal name fool you. This is fun. I prefer to call it “Mark Twain Summer Camp.” There are sing-a-longs, fancy dinners (with fancy wines), and a good number of “camp buddies” to make. There are also great papers and presentations on Mark Twain, of course.
Most of us who attended the last conference would agree that it was among the best–if not the best–conference we have ever attended, and we are all eagerly looking forward to August in Elmira, especially if the humidity stays mostly away like last time.
Photo courtesy of Patrick Ober
The highlight of the last conference was the presence of Hal Holbrook, especially his storytelling on the site of Mark Twain’s study lit by the moon and cigars. I wrote about this event and posted the audio of his storytelling in a previous post.
Anyway, proposals for the conference are due in just about a week. If you have anything on Twain, do yourself a favor and work it up for this conference. The full call can be found here: Elmira2013CallforPapers
:
Bonnie Applebeet
Mark L.
Beza Merid
Brykman (steve)
Carrie Andersen
David B. Olsen
Joe Faina
Jeffrey Melton
Matt Powell
Matthew Daube
Caroline Zarlengo Sposto
Philip Scepanski
Sharon McCoy
selfdeprecate
ABE
If you are a grad student and have been considering submitting an Abstract
proposal to Elmira 2013 — (or if you are aware of a grad student who needs
encouragement) — please know that the Center for Mark Twain Studies has
set aside funds to offer assistance to cover Conference fees for grad
students.