Now that we've gathered at this first-ever travel writing conference, how can we keep in touch and keep the momentum going?
One key is networking, which involves sharing materials, working together for special issues in periodicals, conferences, and the building of working bibliographies. That also ties in with the problems we all face in reference to the availability of texts. In this session (and the conference at large), if we could build some momentum to put proposals together to edit and publish primary texts--needed desperately--with secondary criticism to follow, then we will have taken a big step toward getting more attention. A central issue getting these writers into more classrooms so that teachers of courses from undergraduate surveys to graduate seminars will have texts to choose from.
Some issues important to scholars in the field are:
Publication in journals and university presses -- which ones are interested in our topic, what are the editors' interests and biases, what has gotten publish and what has been turned down . . .
Conferences -- special sessions at larger conferences, future conferences devoted to travel writing . . .
Resources -- special collections at research libraries, Web sites, repositories outside the United States, textbooks and classroom readings. . .
Networking -- ways to contact and collaborate with others working in a specific area . . .
Scope and significance -- the advantages and disadvantages of working on very obscure or very famous travel writers . . .
Jeff Melton, Bill Murphy, and Jason Wilson will host this session, but they do not claim they can answer all questions or solve all problems.
Jeff Melton
William Murphy
English Department
Auburn University at Montgomery
Montgomery, AL 36117
University of Minnesota Press
111 Third Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55401
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