International Auto/Biography Association Asia-Pacific Conference 2023
26th-28th Sept 2023 (online conference)
“Life Narrative in Unprecedented Times: Writing the Unexpected, Narrating the Future”
Deadline for Submissions: July 7, 2023
The pandemic has functioned as a reminder of the importance of life storying and testimony as records of experience, as information sharing, or as creative engagement. This conference explores the ways momentous events shape life narration in the past, now, and for the future, for instance, the role of journalism in circulating personal stories, understanding of the impacts of mental health, and a renewed engagement in family and community histories. Each of these themes has been particularly notable during COVID-19. We invite proposals that address life narratives at unprecedented times, but also how life narrative is located by recent histories in diverse contexts and temporality.
The conference welcomes critical and creative responses including, but not limited to, the themes outlined below:
*narrating ‘the new normal’
*disrupted/stalled futures
*national/ regional/ local life narratives
*narrating isolation/ lockdown
*non-human and post-human lives, particularly connections during COVID/isolation
*illness narratives
*stories of grief and loss
*ageing and storytelling
*life narrative as record-keeping
*memorabilia, materials and objects
*social media / the rise of TikTok
*children and youth as life narrators
*Reality television, trends and shifts
*non-fiction podcasts
*travel narratives/post-COVID
*genre shifts (journalism, the essay)
*narratives of work and employment
Papers will be 10-15 minutes in length.
Proposals of 300 words + bios of 50 words should be sent to iaba.asiapacific@flinders.edu.au by 7th July 2023.
Kate Douglas (she/her)
Professor of English
College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences
+61 402440223
www.flinders.edu.au/people/kate.douglas
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