The ALA 2018 Program Posted

The program for this year’s American Literature Association Conference in San Diego (May 24-27 2018) has been posted. Click here to check it out! 

Here is a listing of the FNS-sponsored events:

Thursday, May 24, 10:30 – 11:50 am 
[Session 2-B] Frank Norris
Chair: Eric Carl Link, Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne
1. “Looking at ‘Wheat’ in the Blink of an Eye,” Toby Widdicombe, University of Alaska Anchorage
2. “Design for Determinism: Norris, Nansen, and A Man’s Woman,” Patti Luedecke, Western University Ontario
3. “An Octopus of Data: Cyberspace and the Golden Spike,” Zach Mann, University of Southern California

Thursday, May 24, 3:00 – 4:20 pm
[Session 5-B] Frank Norris’s McTeague: New Perspectives
Chair: Steve Frye, California State University Bakersfield
1. “’Bottled Lightning’: McTeague and the Gospel of Relaxation,” Jeffrey W. Miller, Gonzaga University
2. “Scales of Force and Power in Frank Norris and N. K. Jemisin,” Chuck Robinson, University of Nevada Reno
3. “’Spit ut out’: The Role of Dialect in Frank Norris’s McTeague,” Scott Shumaker, University of Nevada Reno

Thursday, May 24, 4:30 – 5:50 pm
[Session 6-B] Literary Naturalism and Social Protest: A Roundtable Discussion
Moderator: Eric Carl Link, Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne
Panelists:
– Donna Campbell, Washington State University
– Anita Duneer, Rhode Island College
– Steve Frye, California State University Bakersfield
– Lauren Navarro, LaGuardia Community College
– Keith Newlin, University of North Carolina Wilmington
– Jeanne Reesman, University of Texas San Antonio
– Adam Wood, Salisbury University

Happy Birthday, Frank Norris!

Even after 148 years, Frank Norris continues to provoke interesting conversation!

Check out a March 1st article by Slate Magazine, which provides scientific viability for Norris’s argument about the colonizing power of the octopus:

“Frank Norris’ 1901 novel about the California railroads described the robber barons’ monopoly as ‘the leviathan, with tentacles of steel clutching into the soil, the soulless Force, the iron-hearted Power, the monster, the Colossus, the Octopus.’ . . . This sinister interpretation of the octopus isn’t all made-up, in a scientific sense. Cephalopods are indeed colonizing species: They’re weedy ecosystem opportunists . . . ”

Read more at https://slate.com/technology/2018/03/against-the-octopus-the-overrated-cephalopod.html