The International Association for Literary Journalism Studies invites submissions of original research papers, abstracts for research in progress and proposals for panels on Literary Journalism for the IALJS annual convention on 14-16 May 2009. The conference will be held at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, USA (Evanston is the first suburb immediately north of the city of Chicago).

The conference hopes to be a forum for scholarly work of both breadth and depth in the field of literary journalism, and all research methodologies are welcome, as are research on all aspects of literary journalism and/or literary reportage. For the purpose of scholarly delineation, our definition of literary journalism is "journalism as literature" rather than "journalism about literature." The association especially hopes to receive papers related to the general conference theme, "Literary Journalism: Past, Present and Future." All submissions must be in English.

The International Association for Literary Journalism Studies is a multi-disciplinary learned society whose essential purpose is the encouragement and improvement of scholarly research and education in Literary Journalism. As a relatively new association in a relatively recently defined field of academic study, it is our agreed intent to be both explicitly inclusive and warmly supportive of a wide variety of scholarly approaches.

Details of the programs of previous annual meetings can be found at:
http://www.ialjs.org/conferences08.html
http://www.ialjs.org/conferences07.html
http://www.ialjs.org/conferences2006.html

I. Guidelines for Research Papers

Submitted research papers should not exceed 7,500 words, or about 25 double-spaced pages, plus endnotes. Please regard this as an upper limit; shorter papers are certainly welcome. Endnotes and bibliographic citations should follow the Chicago Manual of Style. Papers may not be simultaneously submitted to any other conferences. Papers previously published, presented, accepted or under review are ineligible. Only one paper per author will be accepted for presentation in the conference's research sessions, and at least one author for each paper must be at the convention in order to present the paper. If accepted, each paper presenter at a conference Research Session may be allotted no more than 15 minutes. To be considered, please observe the following guidelines:

(a) Submission by e-mail attachment is required, in either an MS Word or Adobe PDF format. No faxes or postal mail submissions will be accepted;
(b) Please include one title page containing title, author/s, affiliation/s, and the address, phone, fax, and e-mail of the lead author.
(c) Also include a second title page containing only the paper's title and the paper's abstract. The abstract should be approximately 250 words in length.
(d) Your name and affiliation should not appear anywhere in the paper [this information will only appear on the first title page; see (b) above].

II. Guidelines for Poster/Work-in-Progress Presentations (Abstracts)

Submitted abstracts for Poster/Work-in-Progress Sessions should not exceed 250 words. If accepted, each presenter at a conference Poster/Work-in-Progress session may be allotted no more than 10 minutes. To be considered, please observe the following guidelines:

(a) Submission by e-mail attachment is required, in either an MS Word or Adobe PDF format. No faxes or postal mail submissions will be accepted;
(b) Please include one title page containing title, author/s, affiliation/s, and the address, phone, fax and e-mail of the lead author;
(c) Also include a second page containing only the work's title and the actual abstract of the work-in-progress. The abstract should be approximately 250 words in length.

III. Guidelines for Proposals for Panels

(a) Submission by e-mail attachment is required, in either an MS Word or Adobe PDF format. No faxes or postal mail submissions will be accepted;
(b) Panel proposals should contain the panel title, possible participants and their affiliation and e-mail addresses, and a description of the panel's subject. The description should be approximately 250 words in length;
(c) Panels are encouraged on any topic related to the study, teaching or practice of literary journalism;
(d) SPECIAL NOTE: A panel on the subject of the practice and/or teaching literary journalism in the new era of digital media is already under consideration. Anyone interested in participating as a panelist is invited to contact the Conference Program Chair (e-mail address below).

Evaluation Criteria, Deadlines and Contact Information

All research paper submissions will be evaluated on originality and importance of topic; literature review; clarity of research purpose; focus; use of original and primary sources and how they support the paper's purpose and conclusions; writing quality and organization; and the degree to which the paper contributes to the study of literary journalism. Similarly, abstracts of works-in-progress and panel proposals will be evaluated on the degree to which they contribute to the study of literary journalism. Submissions from students as well as faculty are encouraged.

Please submit research papers or abstracts of poster/works-in-progress presentations to:

Prof. Isabel Santos
Universidade Técnica de Lisboa (Portugal)
2009 Conference Research Chair, International Association for Literary Journalism Studies
E-mail: <isantos@iscsp.utl.pt>

Please submit proposals for panels to:

Prof. Norm Sims
University of Massachusetts, Amherst (U.S.A.)
2009 Conference Program Chair, International Association for Literary Journalism Studies
E-mail: <sims@journ.umass.edu>

Deadline for all submissions: No later than 31 January 2009

For more information regarding the conference or the association, please go to http://WWW.IALJS.ORG or contact:

Prof. David Abrahamson
Northwestern University (U.S.A.)
President, International Association for Literary Journalism Studies
E-mail: <d-abrahamson@northwestern.edu>

Prof. Alice Trindade
Universidade Técnica de Lisboa (Portugal)
Vice President, International Association for Literary Journalism Studies
E-mail: <atrindade@iscsp.utl.pt>

Prof. John Bak
I.D.E.A., Nancy-Université (France)
Past President, International Association for Literary Journalism Studies
E-mail: <john.bak@univ-nancy2.fr>