The University of Central Arkansas will assist in hosting the 12th International Conference on the Short Story in English.
This conference, held every two years, brings together renowned writers of fiction from all over the globe including Ireland, France, England, the Netherlands, Australia, Sri Lanka, China, Taiwan, Portugal, Canada, Indonesia, and the United States. The event will feature reading sessions, roundtable discussions and panels, translation workshops and performances. All sessions will be in English.
The conference will take place June 27-30 in North Little Rock at The Wyndham Hotel, with special events at the Argenta Theatre and the Clinton Library. More than 150 scholars and 40 writers will be in attendance from more than 20 countries. Several UCA faculty members and students from the English Department and the Writing Department will read and present scholarly papers.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for Arkansas, students, emerging writers, and the general public to see such great writers read their works,” said Dr. Maurice A. Lee, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and director of the conference since 1994.
The university and the UCA Foundation will host the opening reception on June 27 in the Clinton Library from 6- 8 p.m. UCA will also host a public reading from 7 to 9 p.m. on June 29 in the Student Center Ballroom on the UCA campus. The readings will be with Moira Crone, Bharati Mukherjee, Velma Pollard, and Katherine Vaz.
“This conference has been promoting ‘global education’ since the start of the conference in 1988 in Paris, France, and we have had writers from all over the globe since its conception,” Lee said. “Even though the conference is about the writers, it is the scholars who attend and give papers who really ‘push the envelope’ and encourage the study of the short story.”
“This is the first time we have been back in the States since 2002,” Lee continued, “and I am very pleased that it is here in Arkansas.”
For more information about the conference, visit www.shortstoryconference.com.
