The South Atlantic Modern Language Association (SAMLA) annual conference, organized around the theme “Fighters from the Margins: Socio-Political Activists and Their Allies,” will take place on November 2-4, 2018, in Birmingham, Alabama. The keynote speaker is Lorraine López. The following are a few sessions/calls for submissions that may be of interest to our readers:

Latin American Writers as Queer Activists

The rise of Latin American writers as gay and lesbian activists has been outstanding. Publication in large numbers of works that examine a myriad of subjects pertaining LBTQ communities is a testimony of the role of Queer literature in effecting social change. This session seeks to explore the historical and aesthetic development of a Queer literature produced by Latin American gay and lesbian writers. Scholars are invited to explore any aspect of a queer-informed literary production, including other artistic productions such as cinema with a gay and lesbian content.

Chair: Rafael Ocasio, rocasio@agnesscott.edu

Please submit a short abstract of 150-200 words and any A/V or scheduling requests by May 31, 2018

Reinaldo Arenas: The Legacy of a Gay Writer and a Queer Counterrevolutionary Activist

Novelist and short story writer Reinaldo Arenas rose to international attention as among the first counterrevolutionary artists to publicly explore subjects anathema to Cuban revolutionary ideology. He was too among the first Cuban writers to publish outside Cuba without official permission with rather dire personal consequences. This panel seeks papers that trace Arenas’ approach to a Queer activism, including analyses of his rather raw erotic production written during his exile period in New York City.

Chair: Angela Willis, Davidson College, anwillis@davidson.edu

Please submit a short abstract of 150-200 words and any A/V or scheduling requests by May 31, 2018

The Legacy of Judith Ortiz Cofer

A writer who broke new literary and critical grounds and an acclaimed poet and prose writer solidly rooted in a bi-cultural background, Ortiz Cofer proudly claimed, “I have earned the right to call myself a Southern Latina writer.” We seek essays that examine the geographical and cultural convergences within Ortiz Cofer’s work and that reflect upon her life, both as a Puerto Rican-born author, who drew from her childhood memories growing in Hormigueros, and as a full-fledged Latina activist and professor of English at the University of Georgia, who was committed to gender and economic issues affecting Latino communities.

Chair: Lorraine López, lorraine.lopez@vanderbilt.edu

Please submit a short abstract of 150-200 words and any A/V or scheduling requests by May 31, 2018

[Photo above: Judith Ortiz Cofer.]