IALJS-19: “Literary Journalism and the Tides of History” – The Nineteenth International Conference for Literary Journalism Studies Marist College Poughkeepsie, NY, United States, May 28-30, 2025

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 28-30 May 2025. The conference will be held on the campus of Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York, USA, on the banks of the Hudson River.

The IALJS intends the conference 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 is 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 conference theme is Literary Journalism and the Tides of History, inspired by the unique character of the Hudson River, which rises and falls with the tides, and which flows through a valley long occupied by native peoples with a long storytelling tradition.

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 an 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 variety of scholarly approaches.

I. GUIDELINES FOR RESEARCH PAPERS

Submissions for Research Papers follow a two-step procedure: First, extended abstracts of 600-700 words, demonstrating significant progress toward a completed Research Paper (including research methodology and preliminary conclusions), must be submitted by 2 January 2025. Second, if accepted for presentation, the full paper must be submitted by 15 April 2025. 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 (live or virtually) in order to present the paper. If accepted, each paper presenter at a conference Research Session may be allotted no more than 15 minutes. If the full paper is not received on time, the proposal will automatically revert to being accepted as a Work-in-Progress submission (see below). To be considered, please observe the following guidelines:

1. Submission via EasyChair is required: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=ialjs19. Please create an account and follow the instructions.
2. Necessary data include: author/s, affiliation/s, contact details of the lead author, title of submission, keywords (5 max.), abstract summary (50 words), an extended abstract of 600-700 words, and author bio/s.
3. Your name and affiliation should not appear anywhere in the abstract. 

Full Research Papers are eligible for the Susan Greenberg Prize for Best Research Paper, and papers that win this award are given priority consideration to be published in the IALJS journal, Literary Journalism Studies.

II. GUIDELINES FOR WORK-IN-PROGRESS PRESENTATIONS (ABSTRACTS)

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

1. Submission via EasyChair is required: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=ialjs19. Please create an account and follow the instructions.
2. Necessary data include: author/s, affiliation/s, contact details of the lead author, title of submission, keywords (5 max.), abstract summary (50 words), an extended abstract of approximately 250 words, and author bio/s.
3. Your name and affiliation should not appear anywhere in the abstract. 

III. GUIDELINES FOR PROPOSALS FOR PANELS

1. Submission via EasyChair is required: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=ialjs19. Please create an account and follow the instructions.
2. Necessary data include: author/s, affiliation/s, contact details of the panel organizer/s, title of panel, keywords (5 max.), type of panel, description of panel (150-250 words), titles and summaries for all papers included in the panel (up to 100 words each), and panelist bios.
3. Panels are encouraged on any topic related to the study, teaching, or practice of literary journalism.

Details of the programs of previous annual meetings can be found at: https://ialjs.org/past-ialjs-conferences/.

IV. 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. All research paper and abstract submissions will be blind-juried, and submissions from students as well as faculty are encouraged.

Deadline for all submissions: No later than 2 January, 2025

Important note: Please be advised that it is a matter of IALJS policy that conference participants will be limited to presenting in no more than two conference sessions.

Contact

For more information regarding the conference or the association, please go to https://www.ialjs.org or contact:

• Prof. Tobias Eberwein, Austrian Academy of Sciences (Austria) IALJS President; e-mail: tobias.eberwein@oeaw.ac.at
• Prof. Willa McDonald, Macquarie University (Australia) IALJS First Vice-President; e-mail: willa.mcdonald@mq.edu.au
• Prof. Lisa Phillips, State University of New York New Paltz (U.SA.) IALJS Treasurer; e-mail: phillipl@newpaltz.edu
• Prof. Kevin Lerner, Marist College (U.S.A.) IALJS Secretary and conference site host; e-mail: kevin.lerner@marist.edu

NOTE: Submissions from students are encouraged, and a competitive Student Travel Fund is established to assist in funding student travel; applications available upon acceptance of submission.