Wednesday, November 18, 2009

True Blood Speakers needed


True Blood and the West?

Speaking of the Undead in the West, the CFP below for HBO’s True Blood series reminded me that there were western elements in the most recent season of the series. Although, with its primary Louisiana setting, True Blood seems mostly to draw on southern regionalism, vampire Bill and human (or mostly human) Sookie made a side trip to Texas as part of season two’s story arc, where they had an encounter with anti-vampire religious militants, and there were quite a few vampires here and there displaying a distinct cowboy aesthetic in their dress sense. That foray into western space might be interesting to examine in terms of western genre as well.

The Call For Papers:

True Blood ( PCA/ACA, 3/31 – 4/3, Submission Deadline: 12/15)

The Vampire in Literature, Culture and Film area of the Popular Culture Association is seeking papers for the Joint National Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association Conference to be held Wednesday, March 31st to Saturday, April 3rd, 2010 in St. Louis.

Papers which cover any aspect of the HBO True Blood series or the Charlaine Harris Sookie Stackhouse books are sought for presentation. Papers should be limited to a reading time of 15-20 minutes (3 person panels allow for 20 minute papers while 4 person panels allow for 15 minute papers; panels will be formed no later than January 2010 in order to provide panelists ample time to adjust their presentation time).

If you want to form your own panel of 3 or 4 presenters unified around a particular theme or work, please send panel proposals along with brief abstracts of each paper, each paper’s title, and contact information for each presenter in addition to designating one presenter as the Panel Chair. Discussion panels of 4-6 participants each are also encouraged.

All presenters must be (or become) members of the PCA or ACA and must register for the conference. Membership and registration information will be sent upon presentation acceptance. Please note that paper acceptance obligates participants to present the paper at the conference. Additionally, as per PCA/ACA guidelines, multiple submissions to different areas are not allowed (although you can present a paper and participate as a round-table speaker), and you must be present at the conference to read your own paper.

To have your proposal considered for presentation, please send a 250-350 word abstract by December 15, 2009, complete with your name, affiliation, and contact information to either:

Mary Findley
Vermont Technical College
mfindley@vtc.edu

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