South Central Modern Language Association

The 2009 SCMLA conference will take place 29–31 October in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, at the Hilton Baton Rouge Capitol Center Hotel, on the banks of the Mississippi River. Louisiana State University will host the gathering, and this year's theme is Continuity and Displacements. Highlights will include the Friday plenary address, "Reconfiguring the South as Fact and as Fiction," by David Madden, creator of the US Civil War Center and chair of the Louisiana Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission. May Waggoner will deliver Thursday evening's keynote, entitled "Waiter! There's Some French in my Naturalism: The Francophone Literature of Nineteenth-Century Louisiana."

The 2008 SCMLA meeting was held in San Antonio, Texas, at the Sheraton Gunter Hotel and drew 410 attendees. The Department of English at Saint Mary's University and the Departments of English, Classics, and Philosophy and Modern Languages and Literatures at the University of Texas, San Antonio, sponsored the meeting, with Norma Cantú from the University of Texas, San Antonio, serving as local arrangements chair. Thursday night's keynote speaker Arturo Madrid, the Murchison Distinguished Professor of Humanities at Trinity University, gave attendees insights into "Close Encounters of the Transgressive Kind" as he explored the cultural and artistic expression of transnational Mexican communities. On Friday afternoon, Naomi Shihab Nye, the award-winning poet, writer, anthologist, educator, and a lively, energetic, and inspiring speaker, gave the plenary address, entitled "Language as Gravity: We Have No Borders When We Read." The theme Borders was reflected in many of the 101 regular, allied, and special sessions. The Kirby Prize for Best Article Published in the South Central Review went to Ralph Schoolcraft III (Texas A&M Univ.) for his article "Scenarios of Desire in the Fiction of Pascal Bruckner" (Summer 2007: 24.2). The SCMLA Annual Book Award went to Jane Chance (Rice Univ.) for The Literary Subversions of Medieval Women (Palgrave McMillan, 2007). The prizes for the best papers were awarded to Katie Egging (Univ. of Kansas), for historical and/or cultural studies; and Katie Bourland Ross (Southwestern Univ.), for the Andrist Prize in Hispanic gender studies. Emily Johnson (Univ. of Oklahoma), received the Research Abroad Award. Raymond-Jean Frontain (Univ. of Central Arkansas) received the SCMLA/HRC fellowship, and Justin R. Tremel (Univ. of Texas, Austin) received the graduate student grant.

The 2010 SCMLA conference will take place in Fort Worth, Texas, on 28-30 October at the Sheraton Fort Worth Hotel and Spa. Special-session proposals on any topic including those related to the convention theme, New Frontiers, will be accepted until 19 February 2010. To request forms for proposing special sessions, contact the SCMLA office (405 325-6011; fax: 405 325-3720; scmla@ou.edu).

To join SCMLA, please contact Diana L. Hodges, SCMLA, Baker B47, Univ. of Oklahoma, 104 4th St., Norman 73019 (405 325-6011; fax: 405 325-3720; scmla@ou.edu). You may also download a membership form at http://www.ou.edu/scmla/. The Web site features our online newsletter, which includes current calls for papers, deadline and grant application information, and details on all upcoming conferences.

The South Central Review publishes articles, interviews, and book reviews written in English on any aspect of literature, literary history, film, and cultural studies. Manuscripts and editorial correspondence should be addressed to Richard J. Golsan, Editor, South Central Review, Dept. of European and Classical Languages and Cultures, Texas A&M Univ., College Station 77843-4215.

Current SCMLA Executive Committee members are President, John Morris (Cameron Univ.); Vice President, Deborah Arteaga (Univ. of Nevada, Las Vegas); Past President, Frieda H. Blackwell (Baylor Univ.); Executive Director, Grady C. Wray (Univ. of Oklahoma); South Central Review, Editor, Richard J. Golsan (Texas A&M Univ., College Station); American Literature Representative, Viki Pettijohn Craig (Southwestern Oklahoma State Univ.); English Literature Representative, Dan Ransom (Univ. of Oklahoma); French Literature Representative, Anne Quinney (Univ. of Mississippi); German Literature Representative, Erika Nelson (Union Coll.); Russian and Less Commonly Taught Languages Representative, Luciana Namorato (Indiana Univ.); Spanish Literature Representative, Sharon Ugalde (Texas State Univ., San Marcos); At-large Representatives, James B. Kelley (Mississippi State Univ., Meridian); and Linda M. McManness (Baylor Univ.).

GRADY C. WRAY
Executive Director