CONFERENCE EVENTS
Peripatetic Seminar on Speculative Fiction, led by John Plotz
Thursday, 5-6:30pm; Registration required: capped at 25.
Because some of us have our best ideas walking, please join the first annual MSA peripatetic seminar, Thursday October 9 at 5pm (meeting in the Sheraton lobby). We will exchange ideas about speculative fiction informally as we perambulate. This is intended as an “all levels” conversational space, so you are heartily invited if you once worked on, are now working on or may be working on speculative fiction in the future: the barrier to entry is deliberately set very low. The walk will be informal and conversational (in fact, speculative!). It kicks off with each of us spending 30 seconds or a minute describing their interest in the area and naming a text they are working on. Then we walk, doing our best to swap conversational partners periodically. The peripatetic seminar will be fully open and accessible to all interested parties. Please rsvp throug conference registration, and when you do, let us know accessibility constraints so we can design accordingly. Weather permitting, we will make a loop that includes the Esplanade finish up around 6:30 at The Blind Duck (40 Trinity Pl, Boston, MA 02116). feel free to invite your conference friends to join us there for our liquid cool-down..
Reception and MSA book awards
Thursday, 6:45pm.
Boston Athenaeum Tour and Rare Books Viewing
Friday, October 10th, 9-10AM; Registration required: capped at 25; 5$ fee. Meeting place: Lobby of the Boston Athenaeum at 9am.
The Boston Athenaeum is one of the country’s oldest independent libraries, founded in 1807 and forming a crucial part of the United State’s intellectual and artistic infrastructure during Boston’s formative years. It moved into its current building at 10 ½ Beacon Street in 1847, and writers ranging from Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathanial Hawthorne, and Margaret Fuller to Amy Lowell (who wrote a poem about the Athenaeum). Registrants will get a guided tour of the beautiful Athenaeum building, which serves both as a library and a gallery for both historic and contemporary art. They will also be invited to choose a book, manuscript, or object from the Special Collections to have on view, and there will be time to examine those objects at the end of the tour.
One Poem: Community Close Readings
Friday, 12:00-12:50.
Return to what brought you to this profession, drop your expertise at the door, and come to this gathering to read together one short poem. This is a completely low-tech event—the only media will be the piece of paper you receive at the door. Open to all who would like to gather and close read in the way that we ask our students to do, but so rarely get to do together. There is no advance warning of what the poem will be, so come prepared to enjoy the encounter and the discussion with your colleagues. All are welcome. Friday, 12:00-12:50.
A conversation with Jamie Hood, author of The Trauma Plot (moderated by Laura Hartmann-Villalta).
Friday, 2:45 - 4:15.
CCIS Informal Meet-up!
Friday, 6:45 - 7:45 PM, at <a href="https://www.cornwalls.com/>Cornwall's</a> at 644 Beacon St.
Informal Meet-up for Graduate Students!
Friday, 6:45-7:30 PM.
Business Lunch
Saturday, 11:45-1:00.
One Page: Community Close Readings
Saturday, 12:00-12:50.
Return to what brought you to this profession, drop your expertise at the door, and come to this gathering to read together one page—just one page—from a work of fiction. This is a completely low-tech event—the only media will be the piece of paper you receive at the door. Open to all who would like to gather and close read in the way that we so often ask our students to do, but so rarely get to do together. No advance warning of what the page will be from, so come prepared to enjoy the encounter and the discussion with your colleagues. All are welcome. Sat, 12:00-12:50.
Just Book-ish Visit
Sunday, 10:00am.
Visit to Just Book-Ish, a literary gathering space and bookstore co-founded by Porsha Olayiwola. Just Book-Ish, which opened its doors in 2024, provides programming and events for creative communities in Dorchester. Culturally curated, radically influenced, and locally inspired, justBook-ish seeks to shift the narrative in the publishing world by housing a collection of books by writers whose work often challenges political paradigms. Partnering with numerous organizations and artists, it offers a centralized hub and networking space in a cozy and comfortable book-cafe setting. In addition to philanthropic support, revenue from books and beverages will help to offset the cost of operations and programming. This visit will include a presentation about the distinctive history and meaning of this cultural institution.
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Plenary Roudtable: Kelly Rich and Jina Kim, moderated by Michael Rubenstein, Stony Brook University.
Friday, 4:30-5:30.
Plenary Reading: Poet Porsha Olayiwola
Friday, 5:45-6:45.
Plenary: Kevin Quashie and Evie Shockley
Saturday, 4:30-5:45
COMMUNITY GATHERINGS
MSA Collective Memorial
MSA 2025 will feature a memorial space to collectively recognize the fellow-travelers we have lost, including our teachers, students, colleagues, and friends in the modernist studies community. We invite you to contribute commemorative items for this space, including a photograph, one of their favorite literary or critical passages, a syllabus they created, an excerpt from their writing, or any other memento that speaks to their impact on you or the field, along with your short note of gratitude and affection. Writing materials will be available for you at the memorial. Thank you for considering sharing your memories of our community members with others.
If there is someone whom you would like to commemorate, please email David Sherman (dsherman@brandeis.edu) and Eve Sorum (eve.sorum@umb.edu), memorial organizers."
FEATURED EXHIBITS
Houghton Library
Harvard University’s Houghton Library is another good resource for archival research while in the Boston area. The Houghton’s Modern Books and Manuscripts collections feature letters, manuscripts, photographs, ephemera, and other historical objects that will be of interest to MSA members, in areas such as Modern American Culture, Modern British and Irish Culture, Modern French Culture, and the Russian Revolution. The Harvard Theatre Collection will also a great resource for modernist scholars, with rare books, manuscripts, ephemera, and audio-visual materials related to the performing arts. Of special interest to members might be the records of Paul Robeson’s Othello, the Tennessee Williams Collection, and the Russian Theatrical Designs collection, which features set and costume designs from the Ballet Russes. Click through their digital collections, such as Anna May Wong Abroad, 1928-1936 and In Black and White: Photographs of Black Theatre by Alix Jeffrey to get a sense of how their collections may be accessed and used in research and teaching.
The Woodberry Poetry Room in the Lamont Library is another outstanding resource, with 6,000 literary recordings, 8,000 browsable poetry collections and 150 open-shelf poetry magazines.
To access these materials in the Houghton Reading Room you will need to register as a library user in HOLLIS Special Request and reserve materials. Materials stored on-site must be requested by 4pm one business day before your visit; materials stored off-site must be requested by 2pm two business days before your visit. Complete instructions here. The week of MSA the Houghton Library is open T-F, 10am-4:45pm.
Getting there: the Houghton Library is located on Harvard University’s campus, and is best accessed from Quincy Street. Map here. The quickest way to get there on public transit from the conference site (Sheraton Back Bay) is the 1 bus to Mass Ave. at Bow St.