Conferences
The PSA sponsors panels at the yearly conferences of both the Modern Language Association (MLA) and the American Literature Association (ALA). CFPs for these panels are posted on this page, the conference websites, and the PSA listserv. Abstracts of upcoming and recent papers are also posted on this page. In addition to our participation in the MLA and ALA, the PSA sponsors international Poe conferences and co-sponsors conferences abroad. The former are located in the United States in cities associated with Poe and are international in the sense that they are attended by Poe scholars from around the world. The latter are co-sponsored with other author societies and located abroad.
UPCOMING EVENTS
American Literature Association Conference
Chicago, May 23-26, 2024
Teaching Poe and (No) Nature
Organized by Margarida Vale de Gato
Chair: Travis Montgomery, Oklahoma Christian University
1. “Art or Apocalypse: Poe’s Environmentalist Pedagogy,” Sara Crosby, The Ohio State University at Marion
2. “Adapting Poe, Teaching Horror-Based Approaches to the Environmental Humanities: Mike Flanagan’s The Fall of the House of Usher," Micah Donohue, Eastern New Mexico University
3. “How Nature Framed Poe’s Big Questions about Life, the Universe, and Everything,” Harry Lee Poe, Union University in Jackson (TN)
Poe and the Global Gothic: New Perspectives
Organized by Renata Philippov
Chair: Philip Edward Phillips, Middle Tennessee State University
1. “From Photogeny to Photogénie: Edgar Allan Poe and Jean Epstein’s ‘Usher,’” Nicholas Bloechl, Boston University
2. “Grim Remedies: Conan Doyle’s Round the Red Lamp, Epistemic Crisis, and the Influence of Poe,” Travis Montgomery, Oklahoma Christian University
3. “Intellectualization of Oriental Women and Othering of White Male Protagonists in Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘Ligeia’ and ‘Morella,’” Syeda Rizvi, Western Michigan University
PSA ONLINE FORUMS
2020-2022
For details, see the list of events.
CONFERENCE PANELS RECENTLY SPONSORED BY THE POE STUDIES ASSOCIATION
Modern Language Association Annual Convention
Philadelphia, January 4-7, 2024
Panel: On Poe’s Longer Works
Organized by the Poe Studies Association
Chair: Emron Esplin, Brigham Young University
1. “‘Some Civilized Footsteps’: Colonial Hypochondria in The Journal of Julius Rodman,” William Hunt, Barton College
2. “Eureka and the Aesthetics of the Cosmos: From Poe’s Unity of Effect to Divine Adaptation,” Bessem Chaouachi, Université de la Manouba
3. “At Length: Poe, Duration, and ‘The Mystery of Marie Rogêt,’” Steve Rachman, Michigan State University
Roundtable: Revisiting The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym
Organized by the Poe Studies Association
Chair: Philip Edward Phillips, Middle Tennessee State University
1. “Anthologies and Archipelagoes: The Antho-Archipelagic Poetics of Poe’s Pym,” Micah Donohue, Eastern New Mexico University
2. “Foreshadowing and Intensifying: The Role of Birds in Poe’s Pym,” John Gruesser, Kean University and Sam Houston State University
3. “Riding the Waves with Pym: Navigating the Unpredictable Twists and Turns of the Antarctic Gothic Genre in Edgar Allan Poe’s Pym,” Adrian Salgado, The Ohio State University
American Literature Association Conference
Boston, May 25-28, 2023
Teaching Poe and/during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Organized by the Poe Studies Association
Chair: Renata Philippov, Universidade Federal de São Paulo
1. “The Edgar Allan Poe—Jane Austen Smackdown and the Case for Teaching Single-Author Courses,” Paul Lewis and Rebekah Mitsein, Boston College
2. “Confinement and COVID: Poe’s ‘Loss of Breath’ to Understand the 21-Century Pandemic,” Michaela Alderman, Palm Beach Atlantic University
Maritime Poe: Seafaring, Oceanic, and “Blue” Studies
Organized by the Poe Studies Association
Chair: Margarida Vale de Gato, Universidade de Lisboa
1. “My dream, then, was not all a dream’: Poe’s Transoceanic Imagination in Pym and Beyond,” Caleb Doan, Grand Valley State University
2. “From an Archaeology to an Archipelagics of Knowledge: Poe’s Pym and Its Rediscoveries,” Micah K. Donohue, Eastern New Mexico University
3. “‘That Wilderness of Glass’: A Fluid-Text Analysis of ‘The City in the Sea,’” Joe Hansen, Loyola University
Modern Language Association Annual Convention
San Francisco, January 5-8, 2023
Gold Rush!?: Poe and 1849
Chair: Emron Esplin, Brigham Young University
1. “‘A Passion for Solitude’: (Re)Constructions of Poe from the Lighthouse Fragment,” Jeffrey Weinstock, Central Michigan University
2. “Poe’s ‘last jest’: Revenge, the Magazine Prison-House, and Self-Allusion in ‘Hop-Frog,’” John Gruesser, Sam Houston State University
3. “On Poe’s Late Style: Versatility and Transgression in the 1849 Tales,” Robert T. Tally, Jr., Texas State University
American Literature Association Conference
Chicago, May 26-29, 2022
Strange Relations: Poe and the Animal World
Chair: Timothy Scherman, Northeastern Illinois University
1. “Poe’s Animal Psychopomps: Fictional Mediators between the Mythic and the Aesthetic,” Bessem Chaouachi, University of Manouba
2. “A Natural Madness: Eco-Nihilism in Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘The Island of the Fay’ (1841) and Everil Worrell’s ‘The Canal’ (1927), Kevin Knott, Frostburg State University
Teaching Poe Experientially
Chair: Kevin Knott, Frostburg State University
1. “Time-Travelling and the Orient: Imperialist Time-lapse in Poe’s ‘A Tale of the Ragged Mountains',’” Shaibal Dev Roy, University of Southern California
2. “What’s in a LOG: Engaging Students in the Archives to Document a Woman of Poe’s Circle,” Timothy Scherman, Northeastern Illinois University
Modern Language Association Annual Convention
Washington, D.C. January 6-9, 2022
Roundtable Session: “Reading Poe Now”
Chair: Emron Esplin
1. “‘his face distorted by the plague’: Reading Poe’s Cholera Texts in Times of Pandemic Crisis,” Davina Hoell, University of Tübingen
2. “Trans-Atlantic Forms: Accumulation and Contamination in Poe’s Pym,” Sarah Abolail, University of California-Irvine
3. “Poe and Social Distancing: or, ‘The Man of the Crowd’ in a Time of Lockdown,” Robert Tally, Texas State University
4. “Space and the Space Between: Characterization in/and Crowds in Poe’s Fiction,” Laura Biesiadecki, Temple University
5. “Poe in Lovecraft Country: The Old Weird and the New Black Gothic,” Benjamin Murphy, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
6. “Reading Poe in the Anthropocene,” Lesley Ginsberg, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs
7. “Fake News, Bad Science, and Poe’s Style,” Tim Morris, Rutgers University
American Literature Association Conference
Boston, July 8-10, 2021
Both sessions were pre-recorded. To view the recordings, use the links below
Poe’s Environmental Humanities
Chair: Sławomir Studniarz
1. “The Nonhuman Agent and Aggressor in ‘The Fall of the House of Usher,’” Jordan Costanza, University of Wisconsin
2. “Poe’s Ourang Outang and the Ecological Ethics of the Nineteenth Century,” Scott Zukowski, Mellon/ACLS Public Fellow at Library of America
3. Respondent: Lesley Ginsberg, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUEpcMb5M7w&list=PL9OI_NQivO4HaonqixAU_7NXA-1NJ-ACM&index=36
Poe in the Wireless Classroom
Chair: Cristina Pérez
1. “Wi-finding for Millenials and Beyond,” Susan Amper, Bronx Community College
2. “‘The Raven’ Online: Mapping Reprints as well as Literary and Artistic Translations over the Internet,” Helciclever Barros da Silva Sales, National Institute for Educational Studies and Research Anìsio Teixeira (Brazil)
3. “Editing Poe in the DH Classroom,” Les Harrison, Virginia Commonwealth University
4. “Teaching Poe with Digital Resources in 2021,” Lesley Ginsberg, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_6vu-P8tkc&list=PL9OI_NQivO4HaonqixAU_7NXA-1NJ-ACM&index=36
Modern Language Association Annual Convention
Virtual, January 7-10, 2021
Revisiting Poe’s Poems
Chair: Emron Esplin, Brigham Young University
1. “Lyric Present, Cosmic Past: Forms of Re-enchantment in Poe’s Eureka,” Maria Ishikawa, University of Massachusetts-Amherst
2. “‘Worthy of all Love’”: ‘Tamerlane,’ the Fluid-Text, and the Evolution of Poe’s Poetic Practice,” Les Harrison, Virginia Commonwealth University
3. “Fever, Dreams, and Beating Hearts: Poe, Poetry, and the ‘Physiology of Composition,’” Stephen Rachman, Michigan State University
4. “Poe and the Canon of Late-Nineteenth-century U.S. Poetry,” Edward Whitley, Lehigh University
Modern Language Association Annual Convention
Seattle, January 9-12, 2020
Poe, Islands, and Archipelagoes
Organizers: Emron Esplin and Brian Russell Roberts, Brigham Young University
Chair: Emron Esplin
Abstracts
1. “Pacific Sensations: Rebellions, Race, and Travel Writing in Edgar Allan Poe’s Sea Tales,” Colleen Marie Tripp, California State University-Northridge
2. “Island Fantasies and Archipelagic Resistance in Poe’s South Sea Fictions,” Caleb Doan, Louisiana State University
3. “Plotting Poe’s Islands of the Mind,” Sonya Isaak, University of Heidelberg
4. “Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘Liquid Landscape’: An Archipelagic Rereading of The Journal of Julius Rodman,” Micah Donohue, Eastern New Mexico University
American Literature Association Conference
Boston, May 23-26, 2019
Poe and Childhood
Chair: Cristina Perez, Universidad Complutense de Madrid/ Harvard University
1. “Notes on Poe and Lolita.” Paul Charles Grimstad, New York University-Gallatin
2. “A Neglected Book from Poe’s Childhood.” Richard Kopley, Pennsylvania State University-DuBois
3. “A Child Adrfit: Finding Family in Poe’s The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym.” Michelle Pacht, LaGuardia Community College
Poe in the Archive (Roundtable Session)
Chair: Adam Lewis, Boston College
Participants:
1. Richard Kopley, Pennsylvania State University-DuBois
2. Paul Lewis, Boston College
3. Travis Montgomery, Oklahoma Christian University
4. Jaqueline Pierazzo, University of Porto, Portugal
Modern Language Association Conference
Chicago, January 3-6, 2019
Poe and Trauma
Chair: Emron Esplin, Brigham Young University
Abstracts
1. "Experience Claimed: The Trauma of Knowing in Poe's Angelic Dialogues." Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock, Central Michigan University
2. "Traumatic Reenactments: Edgar Allan Poe and the Gothic Vicious Circle." Ana Cristina Baniceru, West University of Timisoara
3. "Repetition, Race, and Trauma in 'A Tale of the Ragged Mountains,' Post-Charlottesville." William Hunt, Barton College
4. "Color as Contagion in 'The Fall of the House of Usher': Translating Trauma and Social Degeneracy to the Graphic Novel." Amy Braun, Washington University
American Literature Association Conference
San Francisco, May 24-27, 2018
Teaching Poe and the World
Chair: Emron Esplin, Brigham Young University
Abstracts
1. "Poe in Brazil: Machado de Assis and the Emulation of Poe as a Criticism against Baudelaire's Intermediation." Greicy Pinto Bellin, Centro Universitario de Andrade (Brazil)
2. "Of Ravens and Romanticism: Edgar Allan Poe's Enduring Legacy in American Education and the Juvenile Appropriations of His Poetry and Prose," Jordan Costanza, University of North Carolina-Charlotte
3. "E. A. Poe, W. A. Schlegel, and Modern Literature: A Transnational/Comparative Approach to Teaching Poe," Stephen Rachman, Michigan State University
Bodies in Poe and Hawthorne
Chair: Cristina Perez, Universidad Complutense de Madrid and Harvard University
Abstracts
1. "Poisoned and Possessed: Neuroscience and the Animate Body in Hawthorne and Poe," Matthew Rebhorn, James Madison University
2. "Female Bodies and Male Fears in Poe and Hawthorne," Paul Emmett, University of Wisconsin-Manitowoc
3. "The Scarlett Letter, 'Berenice,' and Jacksonian Era Medical Debates," Jeffrey Yeager, West Virginia University
The Modern Language Association
New York City, January 4–7, 2018
Poe's Philadelphia Stories
Chair: Amy Branam Armiento, Frostburg University
Abstracts
1. "Illustrating 'The Gold-Bug,'" John Gruesser, Kean University
2. "The Colonial Geographies of Sympathetic Ink in Edgar Allan Poe's 'The Gold Bug,'" Daniel Couch, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
3. "The Duplicitous Design of Four Supposed Tales of Terror," Susan Amper, Bronx Community College
4. "Abortion, Punctuation, and the Murders that aren't Murders in the Rue Morgue," Dana Medoro, University of Manitoba
American Literature Association
Boston, May 25–28, 2017
Innovative Approaches to Teaching Poe
Chair: Cristina Pérez, Universidad Complutense de Madrid / Harvard University
Abstracts
1. “‘We are a wonderful people, and live in a wonderful age’: Teaching ‘The Man That Was Used Up’ in China,” Manuel Herrero-Puertas, New York Institute of Technology-Nanjing.
2. “Teaching Poe and Periodical Culture to Different Student Populations,” Timothy W. Helwig, Western Illinois University and Carl Ostrowski, Middle Tennessee State University.
3. “Teaching Poe in the Context of the ACRL’s Framework for Information Literacy,” John Edward Martin, University of North Texas Libraries.
4. “What Poe’s ‘Balloon Hoax’ Can Teach Us About Fake News,” Emily Gowen, Boston University.
Poe and Anthologies
Chair: Emron Esplin, Brigham Young University
Abstracts
1. “(Dis)unity of Affect: Poe Collecting People in The Literati of New York City,” Jana L. Argersinger, Washington State University
2. “Editing Poe in the Twentieth Century: The Contributions of Mabbott, Pollin, Quinn, and Thompson,” Travis Montgomery, Oklahoma Christian University
3. “Edgar Allan Poe and the Classification, Collection, and Anthologizing of Detective Fiction,” John Gruesser, Kean University
4. “Anthologies: A Study of the First Spanish Illustrated Poe Anthology,” Margarita Rigal-Aragón and Fernando González-Moreno, Universidad Castilla-La Mancha
Poe Studies Association Panel at MLA 2017
Philadelphia, January 5-8, 2017
Poe and Antebellum Writers
Abstracts
Chair: Amy Branam Armiento, Frostburg State University
Respondent: Barbara Cantalupo, Penn State, Lehigh Valley
Sarah Schuetze, St. Norbert College, "Dancing with Cholera: Poe and Nathaniel Parker Willis"
Edward Whitley, Lehigh University, "'Poor Poe, you know, was a Bohemian': Whitman, Poe, and the Bohemians of Antebellum New York"
Emron Esplin, Brigham Young University, "Poe, Hawthorne, and Detective Fiction as Mediated through Borges"
POE STUDIES ASSOCIATION CONFERENCES
International Poe Conferences
1st International Edgar Allan Poe Conference,
Richmond, VA, 1999
2nd International Edgar Allan Poe Conference,
Towson, MD, 2002
3rd (Bicentennial) International Edgar Allan Poe Conference,
Philadelphia, PA, 2009
4th International Edgar Allan Poe Conference,
New York, NY, 2015
5th International Edgar Allan Poe Conference,
Boston, MA, 2022
Co-sponsored Conferences
Transatlanticism in American Literature, co-sponsored with the Nathaniel Hawthorne Society and the Ralph Waldo Emerson Society,
Oxford, England, 2006
Conversazioni in Italia, co-sponsored with the Nathaniel Hawthorne Society and the Ralph Waldo Emerson Society,
Florence, Italy, 2012
International Poe & Hawthorne Conference, co-sponsored with the Nathaniel Hawthorne Society,
Kyoto, Japan, 2018
