The Louisville Conference

Announcing LCLC52!

LCLC52 is scheduled for two days of virtual panels on Monday February 17th and Tuesday February 18th 2025 followed by three days of in-person conferencing here in Louisville starting Thursday afternoon (2/20/25) and ending Saturday evening (2/22/25)

The Louisville Conference on Literature & Culture welcomes critical papers and full panel discussions about literature from the 20th and 21st centuries and its connections to other art forms and academic fields. The conference also welcomes creative submissions, such as literary compositions, videos, or hybrid genres. Additionally, critical-creative submissions exploring poetics, crafts, or writing practices are welcomed.

Featuring Keynote Speakers Rachel Kushner, Ben Lerner, Jahan Ramazani, and Georgie Medina. Confirmed LCLC52 events include The Hero Project of the Century: As iZ by Tyrone Williams (Aldon Nielsen, organizer) and The Function of Music in Poetry (Adeena Karasick and Mark Scroggins, organizers.) And so much more to come!

VENDORS and EXHIBITORS are welcome. Contact Emily Ravenscraft, Conference Coordinator at lclc@louisville.edu to learn how you can be a part of LCLC52.

See our Call For Papers for more information!

 

Thanks again to all our participants for making LCLC51 a smashing success!


A Recap of Last Year's Conference

LCLC51 saw many of the world’s most distinguished poets, writers, and theorists in attendance, renewing its reputation as the annual event for literature lovers. With official registrations just shy of 350 attendees, the 2024 LCLC continued to satisfy with over 85 activities, beginning with 8 virtual sessions spread over Monday and Tuesday, followed by three days of in-person events (Thursday, Friday and Saturday).  Certainly, the most poignant moment of the conference happened Saturday afternoon when the poetry world came together in a hastily arranged hybrid zoom session on our campus to mourn the loss of Lyn Hijinian (who died that morning).  Alternating between Zoom and in-person speakers, the session brought many in the packed assembly to tears while listening to eulogies delivered from Russia to Paris, from Berkeley to Boston.
Under the directorship of Dr. Matthew Biberman (ENGLISH), LCLC51 also offered exciting new programming beyond literature, thus renewing the conference’s original mission. Matthew organized the LCLC’s first-ever joint event with the music school, a keynote conversation between U of L music professor Jerry Tolson and the Grammy award-winning poet A. B. Spellman. Other events included a panel stream on the mixed media work of the celebrated artist John Yau, including a reading by Yau and his student Ronna Lobo held at the Schneider Hall Gallery (organized by Tiffany Calvert, Professor of Art), as well as a panel on public mourning featuring sculptor (and U of L alum) Amanda Matthews whose Frankfurt Covid memorial is the first such state memorial of its kind.
Thanks to CODRE funding, the LCLC was also able to host Gladys Tzul Tzul, a Maya K’iche’ activist, public intellectual, sociologist, and visual artist who was one of the first to study indigenous communal politics and gender relationships in Guatemala.  Tzul Tzul’s appearance capped the LCLC’s Spanish offerings, highlighting the conference’s commitment to supporting the practice, study, and celebration of global art and culture.
With its virtual programming, the LCLC is now attracting participants from all over the world, and Biberman expects to see international attendance continue to grow at next year’s LCLC52 

Recent keynote speakers have included Jennifer Egan, Stephanie Burt, Merve Emre, Fernando Opere, Lauren Berlant, Colson Whitehead, Jean-Michel Rabaté, Fred Moten, Rodrigo Toscano, Johanna Drucker, Mat Johnson, Lisa Gitelman, Jack Halberstam, Juliana Spahr, James Smethurst, Dominic Pettman, M. NourbeSe Philip, Sianne Ngai, Douglas Kearney, Lynn Keller, Jed Rasula, Forrest Gander, Coral Bracho, and Marisa Parham.