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------- Forwarded message follows ------- From: J Waters <[log in to unmask]> Department of European Studies and Modern Languages and Centre for Women's Studies, University of Bath, UK International Conference on Contemporary European Women Writers: Gender and Generation Call for Papers An international conference on Contemporary European Women Writers will be held at the University of Bath, UK, on 30 March - 1 April 2005, under the overarching theme and title of 'Gender and Generation'. There is evidence in the literature of some European countries that the explosion of women's writing in the 1970s and 1980s has stimulated the emergence of new generations of women writers in the 1990s and the first decade of the twenty-first century. It is now time to test out this hypothesis and analyse whether it is applicable to other European countries too. The aim of this conference is to explore the legacy of earlier texts by European women and to draw comparisons and contrasts between different generations of writers. In view of the reluctance of many female authors to be identified as 'women writers', we will also enquire whether contemporary European writers regard their gender as a burden, or as valuable and empowering. Is it a factor of primary importance for them, or does it exert only a limited influence on their writing? Within the Department of European Studies and Modern Languages at Bath there are particularly strong research interests in the literatures and cultures of France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Russia. However, we welcome contributions on contemporary women writers of any European country, including the UK, Ireland, Scandinavia, Central and Eastern Europe, Ukraine and Belarus. We welcome both nation-specific and comparative approaches to women's writing in Europe in the last 20 years, focusing particularly on contemporary writers and the changes that have occurred during the period in question. Areas of particular interest include: * Legacies, influences, and/or contrasts and conflicts between women writers of different generations * Feminist, non-feminist or post-feminist writing? * Women writers' response to social and political change * Mothers and daughters, mothers and sons * The treatment of certain themes by women writers: time, memory, sexuality, maternity, education and personal development, female friendship, relationships with men, children and family members, women's issues, illness, suffering and death, women and work, women and violence, women and war * The female body, women's psychology and spirituality * Race, ethnicity, immigration and emigration * Women's representations of men and the masculine * The relationship between literature and theory in specific countries * Genre and style in women's writing: autobiography, lyric poetry, prose genres, écriture féminine, imagery, mythology We will be inviting prominent women writers to the conference to discuss their own work and ideas. The well-known Italian writer Francesca Sanvitale has already confirmed her attendance. We aim to produce a collection (or most probably several) collections of articles on the subject of women's writing in individual European countries and Europe as a whole. Whilst we are currently seeking funding to pay for the travelling and accommodation expenses of invited writers and keynote speakers, please bear in mind that no funds are likely to be available to cover the cost of other delegates' attendance at the conference. Please send proposed paper titles and abstracts of about 150 words by 30 June 2004 to [log in to unmask] Conference committee: Adalgisa Giorgio, Rosalind Marsh, Julia Waters