Thank you!
It’s been a little over two weeks now since the 2017 MLA Annual Convention ended in Philadelphia. I’d like to thank you all—attendees, presenters, facilitators, session organizers—for creating a wonderful meeting. Hundreds of sessions addressed the presidential theme, Boundary Conditions. We had a number of new initiatives, from K–16 partnerships to more workshops on professional issues. We expanded offerings from the Connected Academics project. And, of course, we had sessions on everything from Austen to zombies, thanks to the allied organizations, forums, MLA committees, and individual members who proposed and organized sessions.
If you haven’t done so already, please post your presentation to CORE and continue the conversations you started in Philadelphia on MLA Commons. And if you missed Kwame Anthony Appiah’s presidential address, we hope you’ll take the opportunity to listen to or read it online.
Many thanks to our exhibitors. They bring the latest publications, software, and services to attendees at great discounts, and I hope you were able to stop by one of their many receptions and book signings. Our exhibitors support authors and the convention by taking part—please continue to support them!
Thank you to the volunteers who helped greet and direct attendees. I hope you all had a chance to interact with them. We’ll be continuing this program next year.
There are many people behind the scenes at the convention: hotel workers, convention center staff members, audiovisual technicians, to name just a few. Every year they tell me how happy they are to have the MLA in town and how much they enjoy hosting you. Thank you for starting off their year on a great note!
So, now that you’ve all had a chance to catch your breath, what about next year? No, it’s not too early to start thinking about 2018 in New York City! The presidential theme for 2018 is #States of Insecurity. Calls for papers can be posted and browsed now—the deadline for posting is 28 February. We’re especially looking for session proposals that fit into the new categories brought before the Delegate Assembly—check out the descriptions here and please don’t hesitate to contact me with questions or ideas.
