Calls for Papers
Check back here for conference panel calls for submission and other publication opportunities.
Upcoming Conferences
If you are a society member interested in organizing a thematic panel at a literary conference on behalf of the O’Connor Society, please email Rachel Bryan (rbryan5@vols.utk.edu)
ALA Symposium “The American Novel”
Flannery O'Connor: Forms, Genres, and Traditions
For the ALA's Symposium upcoming symposium in Santa Fe, New Mexico November 5-7, 2026, the Flannery O’Connor Society invites proposals on Flannery O'Connor and how her work responds to these questions posed by the symposium's CFP: What themes, techniques, and values shape the diverse forms and traditions of American storytelling? Do aspects of the American experience encourage or privilege specific literary forms? How do American genres differ from their British or European counterparts? Do American authors work within or against established traditions? How important are certain traditions and forms: the Gothic, the Romance, Realism, Naturalism, Modernism, Post-Modernism, Experimental and Speculative fiction? What is the place of race, class, and gender in constructing, expanding, or demolishing these traditions?
Please send a 250-word paper proposal and a brief CV to Monica Miller at monica.miller@mga.edu by Friday, July 10. Participants must be members of The Flannery O’Connor Society by the time of the conference.
South Atlantic Modern Language Association
The Flannery O’Connor Society invites abstract submissions for two proposed panels to be held at SAMLA’s fall conference in Atlanta, Georgia, November 5-7, 2026.
Flannery O’Connor and Childhood
CFP Special Issue: Flannery O’Connor Review
Eds. Monica Carol Miller and Christine Flanagan
Flannery O’Connor famously observed, “Anyone who has survived his childhood has enough information about life to last him the rest of his days.” Indeed, the many recent additions to O’Connor studies, including the 2014 acquisition of Flannery O’Connor’s juvenilia at Emory University’s archives, newly available archives at Andalusia, the 2026 donation of new materials to Georgia College, and several new publications, invite us to look more closely at O’Connor’s childhood.
The Flannery O’Connor Review invites proposals (of no more than 300 words) of scholarly or creative work for a special issue on Flannery O’Connor and childhood. We will accept proposals for a wide variety of topics about and/or related to Flannery O’Connor’s childhood, girlhood, or the representation of children in her writing.
Topics might include but are not limited to:
The impact of O’Connor juvenilia on Flannery O’Connor scholarship
Historical or material analysis of O’Connor’s Savannah childhood
New perspectives of children in O’Connor’s work
Landscapes inhabited by children in O’Connor’s work
Discussions of childhood in O’Connor’s letters
Analysis of O’Connor’s childhood “book reviews” or childhood marginalia
Representation of the suffering of children (maimed, abandoned, disfigured)
Creative work or interpretations of O’Connor’s childhood
Girlhood and the politics of place
Childhood friendships in O’Connor’s life and writing
We also welcome short (500-1000 word) “From the Archive” essays highlighting a single image or document from the archives. (The author is responsible for securing appropriate permissions.)
Please submit a 300-word proposal and short bio to Christine Flanagan and Monica Miller (monica.miller@mga.edu) by December 15, 2026.
Final drafts of articles will be due by March 1, 2027.
Use of permissions for O’Connor materials should be directed to
Mr. Ben Camardi (bencamarda@gmail.com)
Harold Matson Co., Inc.
31 W. 34th Street, Suite 7034, New York, NY 10001
The Flannery O’Connor Review
Read more about publishing your work in The Flannery O’Connor Review!
Access an abbreviate copy of the submission guidelines here.
The Sarah Gordon Award
The Flannery O’Connor Review and Georgia College and State University invite current graduate students to submit papers on Flannery O’Connor and/or southern studies for consideration for the Sarah Gordon Award by August 1st, 2026. The award brings a $500 cash prize and consideration for publication in The Flannery O’Connor Review.
Graduate students (enrolled in graduate school between April 1 and August 1, 2026) are invited to submit their essays along with a cover letter that details current enrollment in graduate school and states that the submission is to be considered for the Sarah Gordon Award.
Submissions should follow Flannery O’Connor Review submission guidelines (detailed here). For questions about this award, please review the Flannery O’Connor Review’s website or email Matt Bryant Cheney (matt.bryantcheney@gcsu.edu)
Propose content for Cheers!
Do you have an idea for a review, letter, interview, or other content relevant for the Flannery O’Connor Society’s newsletter?
Please email your proposal to Dr. Scott Foran (scott.foran@montreat.edu) for consideration. Cheers! is typically produced over the fall semester.
Do you have a scholarly opportunity related to Flannery O’Connor’s work to advertise?
Are you interested in listing your CFP here? Would you like to organize a Flannery O’Connor Society panel at an academic conference?
Contact Rachel Bryan (rbryan5@vols.utk.edu) with details and the Society will promote the opportunity!
List of conferences with O’Connor Society panels most years:
American Literature Association
Society for the Study of Southern Literature
South Central Modern Language Association
Louisville Conference on Literature and Culture
South Atlantic Modern Language Association
© 2026