"One of the little-understood responsibilities of the artist is to bear witness—in almost a religious sense—to certain things ... the experience of suffering, the humiliation of any form of persecution."
—Joyce Carol Oates, 1982

CALL FOR PAPERS:
American Shorts, Lisbon, October 29-31, 2026

The Joyce Carol Oates Society invites paper proposals on any aspect of Oates’s short fiction for the American Shorts international conference to be held at the University of Lisbon, Portugal, October 29-31, 2026.

The JCOS is currently particularly interested in the notions of intertextuality, intratextuality and intermediality with respect to Oates’s work. However, paper proposals on any aspect of Oates’s short fiction are also welcome. The American Shorts CFP includes a long list of potential areas of study.

Proposal deadline: May 31, 2026. Please send proposals of approximately 200 words, along with a short bio, to Tanya Tromble-Giraud (tanya.giraud@univ-amu.fr) and Randy Souther (southerr@usfca.edu). Speakers will be invited to develop their papers into articles for submission to our journal.