Paper Submissions

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Submission Link and Deadline

The submission deadline has passed.

Acceptance and denial notifications will be emailed December 16, 2015.

Guidelines for Paper Submissions

Eligible members are invited to submit ONE original critical essay or creative work (creative nonfiction, poetry collection, fiction, or drama) to be considered for presentation at the annual convention. Essays on any topic of interest in the discipline are welcome; essays on the works of our featured speakers are especially encouraged.

Eligible members are also invited to submit a second original work in any genre that responds to the 2016 Common Reader, The Soul Thief, by Charles Baxter, to be considered for presentation at the annual convention. Read rules: What Individuals Can Submit.

While faculty members may not submit papers either as Sponsors of their chapters or as members of Alumni Epsilon, they are encouraged to moderate roundtables and sessions.

Paper submissions must conform to the following guidelines:

• Each member in good standing may submit only ONE work for consideration except when the second work submitted is on the Common Reader.
• Each work must be submitted separately.
• Submissions should not exceed word or time limits. Longer works and very short collections will not be considered. Single poems that take less than 8 minutes to read will not be considered.
  1. Prose submissions should not exceed 2,000 words (exclusive of title, notes, and bibliography) and should take no longer than 15 minutes to read.
  2. Poetry submissions should take no fewer than 8 minutes and no more than 15 minutes to present. Poets should expect to present only those poems submitted for consideration.
  3. Prose or poetry submissions which require fewer than 8 minutes to present will not be considered.
  4. Collections of flash fiction may be accepted provided the total length of the collection is 1,000-2,000 words. The collection should have a title, as well as titles for individual pieces within the collection.
• Describe your submission with one keyword from each of the following four groups:
  1. a theme keyword (any work that responds to the convention theme must select “convention theme” to be considered for a “convention theme” award);
  2. a genre keyword to characterize the “genre” of your creative work or the “genre” of the piece your critical work discusses;
  3. an author keyword to identify the author of the piece your critical work addresses or the author you respond to creatively; and
  4. a critical methodology keyword for your critical piece. Creative works should select “other” for critical methodology.

• Acceptance is based on merit, and decisions of the judges are final. No opportunity for revision and resubmission can be provided.
• Authors must be present at the convention to read their own papers. Papers will not be read in the author’s absence.
• Authors must be available to present anytime between Thursday, March 3 and Saturday, March 5, 2016. The only exception would be for students who are unable to present on a particular day for religious reasons. One of the submission questions will require authors to indicate all dates on which he or she is unable to present for religious reasons.
• Works accepted for paper presentation and presented at the convention will automatically be considered for the convention awards available in each category. Authors must present their works at the convention to be eligible for awards.

Topics

Critical Essay

• British Literature before 1500
• Early Modern British Literature (1500-1750)
• Enlightenment and Romanticism (1750-1850)
• Victorian and Pre-War British Literature (1830-1914)
• 20th/21st Century British Literature
• Colonial American Literature
• 19th Century American Literature
• 20th/21st Century American Literature
• Multicultural American Literature (African, Latino/a, Native, Asian)
• World Literature (Anglophone)
• World Literature in translation
• Popular Culture, Film, and Media
• Teaching English Language/Literature; Practices/Pedagogy
• Linguistics or Rhetoric
• Children’s/Young Adult Literature
• Graphic Novels/Memoirs
• AltLit
• Common Reader The Soul Thief

 

Creative Writing

• Original Drama/Screenplay
• Original Fiction
• Original Poetry
• Creative Nonfiction
• Common Reader The Soul Thief

Paper Format

Contributors must not identify themselves in any way on any page of text submitted. You will not be considered for a convention award if your name appears in any way on your submission.

Prose (Critical Essays, Creative Works)

1. Document formatting: use Times New Roman font, 12-point, double-spaced, and 1 inch margins on all sides, and be free of typographical and grammatical errors. Essays must follow the Modern Language Association style guidelines as defined in the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (latest edition). Titles should be no more than four spaces down from the top and centered (avoid bold letters or underlining). Each work (maximum of two if one is on Common Reader) must be submitted as a Word document file (doc or docx).
2. Use an abbreviated version of your title as your file name. Do not use your own name as your file name.
3. Prose manuscripts should not exceed 2,000 words (excluding title, bibliography, and notes).
4. The submitted body of work (including any introductory comments necessary to contextualize the work) must be presentable within an 8 to 15-minute time slot.

Poetry

1. A poetry submission may consist of a collection of poems or one long poem but must take at least 8 minutes but no more than 15 minutes to present, including any introductory comments necessary to contextualize the work.
2. A collection of poems must be contained in one Word document file (doc or docx). Create a new page for each poem within the Word document file, provide the title of your collection at the beginning of your document, and use the title of your collection as your file name.
3. Formatting for poetry submissions should use a 12-point Times New Roman font and be free of typographical and grammatical errors. Titles for the individual poem(s) should be no more than four spaces down from the top; avoid bold letters or underlining.

Flash Fiction

1. Flash fiction may be submitted in a collection that fits the submission guidelines for poetry collections, using a reading time of no fewer than 8 minutes and no more than 15 minutes, including any necessary introductory or contextual remarks. As with poetry collections, give a name to the collection that will serve as the title for the submission, and start each piece on a new page within the submission.
2. To aid the fiction evaluators (judges) to recognize that the submission is a collection of separate short works, we suggest that you give a descriptive title. You may also put in a short introduction that makes it clear you are submitting a collection of flash fiction pieces. Also, be sure to use the phrase “flash fiction” as the “genre” keyword in the submission process.

Submission Deadlines and Notifications

Submitters will receive confirmations and acceptances through email using the email address associated with their account. Therefore it is vital that submitters keep their email addresses active through March 2016 and check them regularly.

• Submissions due Monday, October 26, 11:59 p.m. Central Daylight Savings Time (CDT).
• Acceptance and denial notifications will be emailed December 16, 2015.
• Accepted confirmations to secure a presentation slot are due January 12, 2016.

Questions

Questions regarding the online submission process should be addressed to [email protected].

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Instructions for Submitting Paper Submissions Online

A link to online submissions will be posted here on September 28.

Step 1: Sign In

• Access Online Submission Link
  Go to Account Set-Up for details on setting up your account, resetting your password, or changing your account profile information.

Step 2: Authors

• After you have successfully logged on, choose: Submitter Account | Add As Author/Co-Author. Note: Sigma Tau Delta allows only one author.
• Choose: Continue button.

Step 3: Add Submission

Topic: Select your topic from the pull-down menu.

Critical Essay

• British Literature before 1500
• Early Modern British Literature (1500-1750)
• Enlightenment and Romanticism (1750-1850)
• Victorian and Pre-War British Literature (1830-1914)
• 20th/21st Century British Literature
• Colonial American Literature
• 19th Century American Literature
• 20th/21st Century American Literature
• Multicultural American Literature (African, Latino/a, Native, Asian)
• World Literature (Anglophone)
• World Literature in translation
• Popular Culture, Film, and Media
• Teaching English Language/Literature; Practices/Pedagogy
• Linguistics or Rhetoric
• Children’s/Young Adult Literature
• Graphic Novels/Memoirs
• AltLit
• Common Reader The Soul Thief

 

Creative Writing

• Original Drama/Screenplay
• Original Fiction
• Original Poetry
• Creative Nonfiction
• Common Reader The Soul Thief
• Title: Type in the title of your paper. Due to space constraints, any title of more than 50 characters will be abbreviated in the program. You are strongly encouraged to limit your own title accordingly.
• Attach Document: Select your word document. FOLLOW THESE DIRECTIONS CAREFULLY!

1. Label your Word document by the full title or an abbreviated title of no more than 50 characters. Do not include your name in the paper, and do not use your own name as your file name.
2. Save your Word document file as a doc or docx on your computer’s hard drive. Errors can occur if your file is uploaded from a server or external drive. Do not upload your paper from a cell phone.
3. Click the Browse button to select your document.
4. Click the Attach button.
5. If your document is correctly attached, you will see your document file name listed below the document box.
• Presentation Type: Select Paper Presentation

Step 4: Other Information (required)

• Keywords : Select one keyword from each of the following four groups. Your selection of keywords will help us build panels that best reflect your creative or critical work and assemble the most interested and invested audiences.

Keyword Group: Theme
Please select the theme most important to your work.

Abolition / Slavery; Addiction / Mental Health; Alienation; America / American values; Animals (and Humans); Apocalypse / End Times / Eschatology;  Authenticity;  Beauty / Ugliness; Birth or Rebirth; Capitalism / Industry; Carnival(esque); Ceremony / Hospitality; Change / Transformation; Child / Adolescent / Family; Convention Theme; Death / Trauma / Grief; Deception; Disability; Diversity;  Dreams / the Unconscious; Educational Institutions; Fame / Celebrity Status; Friendship / Enmity; Gender; Holocaust / Genocide; Humor / Satire; Identity / Identity Politics; Imperialism / Colonization; LGBTQIA+; Liminal moments & places; Loneliness / Abandonment; Pedagogy; Romance / Love; Social Class; Symbols / Fetishized Objects; Theism / Atheism; Utopia / Dystopia; Veterans; Virtues / Vices; Voyaging / Questing; War; Other

Keyword Group: Genre
If yours is a creative submission, you should select the genre of your submitted work. If, however, you have written a critical essay, you should select the genre of the primary text or work you discuss. Select “other” only if no other genre category approximates the genre of the work you have studied.

Allegory; Autobiography /Memoir; Bildungsroman (Coming of Age); Children’s Literature; Confessional Literature; Digital Media; Drama, Comic; Drama, Tragic; Epistolary Literature; Fairy Tales; Fantasy;  Film & Television; Flash Fiction; Folklore, Fables, or Myth; Frame Tales; Gothic; Graphic Novel; Horror Genre Fiction; Lyric Poetry; Magical Realism; Marriage Plot; Metafiction; Music or Song Lyrics; Mystery Genre Fiction; Narrative Poetry; Picaresque Novel; Prose Non-Fiction; Realism; Romance Genre Fiction; Satire; Science Fiction; Speculative Fiction; Travelogues; Utopia / Dystopia; Young Adult Literature; Other (your choice)

Keyword Group: Author
If yours is a creative submission, you should either select “other” or select an author who has inspired your creative work. If, however, you have written a critical essay, you should select the author of the primary text or work you discuss if they are included in the list. Choose “other” if they are not on the list and supply their name(s).

Austen, Jane; Brontë Sisters; Chaucer, Geoffrey; common reader author; Conrad, Joseph; Dante Alighieri; Dickens, Charles; Donne, John; Douglass, Frederick; Eliot, T. S.; Ellison, Ralph; Faulkner, William; Fitzgerald, F. Scott; Hawthorne, Nathaniel; Hemingway, Ernest; Joyce, James; Keats, John; Marlowe, Christopher; Melville, Herman; Milton, John; Morrison, Toni; O’Connor, Flannery; O’Neill, Eugene; Poe, Edgar Allan; Rowling, J. K.; Rushdie, Salman; Shakespeare, William; Shelley, Mary; Tolkien, J. R. R.; Twain, Mark; Vonnegut, Kurt; Wilde, Oscar; Wilder, Thornton; Woolf, Virginia; Other.

Keyword Group: Critical Methodology
If yours is a creative submission, you may either select “other” or a critical methodology that illuminates your text. If, however, you have written a critical essay, you should select the critical methodology you have followed in your analysis.

Anthropology/Linguistics; Archetypal / Mythic Criticism; Autobiographical Criticism; Cultural Studies; Deconstruction / Post-Structuralism ; Dialogic Criticism (Bakhtin); Disability Studies; Ecocriticism / Ecofeminism; Feminist Criticism; Gender Studies; Marxist Criticism; New Critical / Formalism / Close Reading; New Historicism; Old Historicism; Political Criticism; Postcolonialism; Psychoanalytic / Psychological Criticism; Queer Theory / LGBTQIA+ theory; Reader-Response Criticism; Reception Theory; Structuralism/Semiotics; Trauma Theory; Other

 

• Membership Type
• Chapter State
• Chapter School
• Academic Level
• (Your) Induction Semester
• (Your) Induction Year
• Chapter Sponsor Name (If you are an Alumni Epsilon member, type “N/A” in the field.)
• Chapter Sponsor Email Address (If you are an Alumni Epsilon member, type “N/A” in the field.)
• Verify the following statements:
  1. “This is an original work authored by me.”
  2. “As instructed, the title of this submission is no more than 50 characters.”
• Answer the following:
  1. “Would you like to be invited to serve as a session chair at the convention?” (If you reply Yes, you will receive an invitation email in late January.)
  2. “Please indicate all dates on which you are unable to present for religious reasons.” (Reply by selecting the date and then from pull-down menu Unable to Present.)

Step 4: Review and Save

• Click Continue and review the information for your submission. You may make edits at this time (choose the Edit button). To save edits, click the Accept button at the bottom of the page.
• Click Save Changes to submit.

Step 5: Additional Submission on the 2016 Common Reader

Repeat the submission process to add a second submission if one of the submissions is on the 2016 Common Reader. Read rules: What Individuals Can Submit. You can also exit and add a second submission at a later date.

• On the first screen next to Submission List select Add.
• Repeat Steps 2 through 4 above.

Step 6: Submission Confirmation

Please check your confirmation and retain it. The confirmation is a do not reply email from [email protected]. It will include a five digit number that may be used as a reference in future communications with [email protected].

Some Chapter Sponsors ask you to forward your confirmation e-mail to them. Please do so.