Death in Contemporary Life Writing

40th Anniversary Convention, Northeast Modern Language Association (NeMLA)
Feb. 26-March 1, 2009
Hyatt Regency - Boston, Massachusetts

This panel will explore the subject of death in contemporary life writings such as autobiographies, memoirs, and works of creative nonfiction. The panel’s purpose will be to examine contemporary writers’ conceptions of death, their struggle to describe a condition that is essentially unknowable, and their uses of death as a signifier for lived conditions. Presentations may contribute to the fields of trauma study, grief study, and narrative theory in general. Topics may include

•the metaphorical use of death in testimonies to trauma;
•the depiction of death in narratives of loss and grief;
•accounts of the dying process of the self or another;
•the role death plays in stories about the self.

Deadline: September 15, 2008

Please include with your 250-word abstract:

Name and Affiliation
Email address
Postal address
Telephone number
A/V requirements (if any; $10 handling fee)

Dr. Georgia Kreiger
Allegany College of Maryland
Box 59
12401 Willowbrook Road
Cumberland, MD21502
Ph. 301.784.5115
Email: gkreiger@atlanticbb.net
Visit the website at http://www.nemla.org