The American University of Paris announces the International Richard Wright Centennial Conference. It will be held 19-21 June 2008 at The American University of Paris and at the Mus??e des ann??es trente (Museum of the Nineteen Thirties), in Boulogne-Billancourt.
The Conference will encourage broad international and interdisciplinary explorations of Wright’s life and writing, with a special emphasis on the Paris he inhabited (1947-1960), both what it was and what it is today as a result of the marks he left behind, and on his experiences in Africa. Stressing the importance of Richard Wright, the conference hopes to be an international point of intersection for all those interested in Wright’s work from literary and cultural critics, to political activists, poets, musicians, publishers and historians. We seek the widest range of academic and public intellectual discussion around Wright???s work which has influenced so many and so much.
Topics may include, but are not limited to: Wright in the Black Atlantic: Transnationalism and Transatlanticism; Wright and expatriate Paris; Wright as exile and travel writer; The reception of Wright’s work in various non-U.S. settings; Wright and African American Satire, Irony, and Comedy; Wright and the African American Literary Canon; Wright, Whiteness, and Black Masculinity; Wright and African American Confinement Literature; Wright, Gender, and the Political Use of Modernism; Wright’s Cultural Criticism; Wright and Literary Friendships and Influences; Wright and Films; Wright and Teaching Pluriculturalism; Wright’s Influence on the World Today.
Paper/presentation proposals should include: 1) a brief (250-300 word) abstract, and 2) a brief (1-2pp.) vita. The deadline is January 15, 2008. Submit abstracts to: Alice.Craven@aup.fr OR William.Dow@wanadoo.fr