DFW17 Panel Schedule

The Fourth Annual David Foster Wallace Conference took place from June 8-10, 2017, at the campus of Illinois State University.  Highlights of the conference included:

Logo by Chris Ayers

• Our keynote by Jeffrey Severs, author of David Foster Wallace's Balancing Books: Fictions of Value.
• A live production of The Great Concavity Podcast by Matt Bucher and David Laird, featuring guests Charlie Harris and Jim Plath.
  
• Our first Diversity Roundtable, featuring Andrea Sheridan, Danielle Ely, and Ryan Lackey, moderated by Diego Báez.
• A rather nondescript game of Eschaton on a nearby basketball court.

		Eschaton: The brutally civilized game of thermonuclear war.

Complete Panel Abstracts and Schedule

Presenter Bios

View/Download PDF of Program and Bios

Schedule Overview:

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More About DFW17:

2017 Theme: "Legacies of Complexity"

The Fourth Annual DFW Conference will explore the diversity of perspectives surrounding Wallace’s literary and scholarly legacy. The 2017 Conference features three categories of proposal: General Presentations, Special Sessions, and Creative Writing.  Given the limited size of the Special Sessions, all Special Sessions proposals will be also be considered among General Proposals.

View Call for Proposals

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Deadlines

Proposal Deadline: December 10, 2016  Now Extended to January 15th! Early Registration Deadline: April 30, 2017** Final Registration Deadline: May 30, 2017 **All Presenters must register by April 30th to be included in the schedule.

General Presentations: DFW Studies, Contemporary Literature and Culture

We encourage proposals considering, but not limited to: innovative/experimental literature; the future of literature and/or publishing; digital vs. traditional publishing/literature; the field of publishing in relation to contemporary literature and/or culture; and creative works exhibiting any of the above issues and/or engaging their subjects from original, committed, and humane perspectives.  Click to Submit a General Presentation

Creative Writing: Continuing Wallace's Legacy Through Creative Expression

Works in all creative forms and mediums will be considered.  Please submit a complete current draft of your work.  For multimodal presentations, a through description (preferably with a link to your work) will suffice.  Click to Submit Creative Writing

Special Sessions: Applying Diverse Perspectives to David Foster Wallace

To further explore themes connecting Wallace’s work to the broad horizons of English Studies and the Humanities, we’ve introduced the following Special Sessions. Works addressing the following topics are highly encouraged (suggested works by Wallace are included in parentheses): Click to Submit to Special Sessions

• Feminism: Literature and Misogyny (e.g. Brief Interviews with Hideous Men)
• Critical Race Theory: Privilege and Linguistic Variation (e.g. “Tense Present”)
• Queer Theory: Sexuality and Sociality (e.g. “Adult World”)
• Politics: Nationalism and Political Deconstruction (e.g. “9/11: View From the Midwest”)
• Disability Studies: (Dis)Ability and Mental Illness (e.g. “Good Old Neon”)
• Philosophy: Ethics and Empathy (e.g. "Consider the Lobster")
• Religion: Conversion and Conformity (e.g. The Pale King)
• Pedagogy: Teaching Language and Writing (e.g. "Authority and American Usage")