ISTW Conferences
International Society for Travel Writing’s conferences feature networking events as well as scholarly and educational presentations relating to the history, culture, and techniques of travel writing.
Since 1997, ISTW has planned half a dozen conferences, and members of the Society are engaged in researching and writing on travel writing in all its historical, cultural, linguistic, and disciplinary articulations and intersections. Past conference presentations have included topics ranging from ancient and classical travel narratives to contemporary tourist accounts, and the Society embraces writings from outside the English-speaking tradition.
Travel writing is cross-disciplinary in its appeal, and members of all disciplines are welcome to attend the conference and join the Society. Disciplines currently represented include literary studies, history, sociology, anthropology, indigenous studies, political science, American studies, women's studies, a broad range of modern and classical languages and literary traditions, environmental studies, journalism, and media studies. Practicing travel writers are also represented and are invited to participate.
Upcoming Conferences
Travelling South:
The Sixth Conference of the International Society for Travel Writing
We are very pleased to announce that the English Department of the University of South Carolina will host the next ISTW conference in the Fall of 2010. The provisional dates are Thursday 23rd - Sunday 26th September and keynote speakers who have agreed to attend are Peter Hulme (University of Essex) and Gary Younge (Brooklyn College and the Guardian newspaper). The conference will have a special focus on travel writing of the South of the United States, but proposal for papers on all regions, periods and types of travel writing will be welcome. A CFP will be issued through Snapshot Traveller and H-Travel.
Call For Papers
“Traveling South”:
The Sixth Conference of
the International Society for Travel Writing
The International Society for Travel Writing invites you to join its sixth biennial conference at the University of South Carolina from 23rd-26th September 2010.
Keynote speakers:
Professor Peter Hulme (University of Essex)
Gary Younge (Brooklyn College and feature writer and columnist for the
Guardian newspaper)
The conference has a special, but not exclusive, focus on “Traveling South”. Papers on this theme might address (but are not limited to) the following topics:
- “South” as a contested space in travel writing
- The construction of travelers’ identities through, with or against the South
- “Southern” as a quality of travel writing
- “South” or “Southern” as a descriptor for place and culture in travel texts
- “South” as a locus of deviance, hybridity, mutation, or decay
- “South” as a locus of warmth, community, and pre-industrialism
- African-American travels to, from, or within the South
- “South” as destination for travel or tourism
- “South” as a local, regional, national, or global term
- Souths compared: e.g. the South of one nation or region compared with that of another
- The construction of gender and sexuality in travel writing of the South
- Theorizing the South on the basis of travel texts and academic discourse on them
Submissions of critical papers; organizations of panels, roundtable discussions, or seminars; and readings of original travel writing, either published or in composition relating to this special theme or to travel writing in general are welcome.
Paper abstracts should be limited to 250 words. Proposals for panels, roundtable discussions, seminars, or readings should not exceed one page. All submissions and inquiries should be made by email to admin@istw-travel.org with the subject line ‘ISTW Conference.’
NB: Papers should focus on travel writing, though they may make comparison with other forms and genres.
Abstracts and proposals should be received by 15th May 2010. Early submission is advisable as places may be limited.
Previous Conferences
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| 1997 Minnesota | 1999 Pennsylvania | 2001 Ohio |
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| 2004 Wisconsin | 2006 Colorado |
2007: Madrid, Spain, 19-21 September, with the University of Madrid Compultense. Click HERE for more information.