The Sixth Annual Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference at StokerCon 2023

Conference Date: Friday, June 16, 2023
Conference Location: Station Square Hotel, 300 W Station Square Dr, Pittsburgh, PA 15219
Conference Website: https://www.stokercon.com

The 2023 StokerCon ® convention in Pittsburgh promises to be a banner event. In addition to celebrating the birthplace of many aspects of modern horror, this year also represents the bicentenary of Ann Radcliffe’s death, and the publication of the 2nd edition of Frankenstein, the first to bear Mary Shelley’s name.

The co-organizers of the Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference are eager to embrace and
interrogate the potential of this moment by examining and critiquing a wide range of topics related to horror and gothic studies. The Ann Radcliffe Conference is intended as a research showcase, as well as a tool for building community and collaboration. Therefore, we invite all interested scholars, researchers, academics, and non-fiction writers to submit presentation abstracts for completed research projects, works-in-progress, and projects that advance the academic analysis of the horror genre in all its forms. This will be a hybrid conference with both in-person and online events via Hopin.

As in prior years, we are eager to receive abstracts that expand the scholarship across horror and gothic studies. This can include, but is by no means limited to:

• Art
• Cinema
• Comics/Manga
• Literature
• Music
• Poetry
• Television
• Video Games
• Cartoons/Anime

We invite papers that take an interdisciplinary approach to their subject matter and welcome scholarship that considers a diverse range of readings, interpretations, and application of theories. This includes work from a variety of interdisciplinary and transmedia fields such as:

• Critical race theory
• Film theory and analysis
• Gender/LGBTQIA+ theory
• Historical analysis and interpretation
• Literary theory and analysis
• Pedagogical approaches to horror
• Psychology and Medicine
• Philosophical approaches

Presentation and Submission Guidelines

• Please upload a 250 – 300 word abstract to our form on Submittable (or by clicking the "Submit Here" button below) by March 19, 2023. Responses will follow as soon as possible during March 2023.
• Presentations should adhere to a 15-minute limit, to ensure adequate time for discussion.
• Please note in your abstract whether you plan to present your work in person or virtually.
• For those presenting virtually, details will be available soon, and video recordings will need to be sent by April 15, 2023.

In support of HWA’s Diverse Works Inclusion Committee goals, the Ann Radcliffe Academic
co-chairs encourage the widest possible diverse representation to apply and present their scholarship in a safe and supportive environment. For more information, please see the Diverse Works Inclusion Committee Mission Statement at: http://horror.org/category/the-seers-table/

The Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference is part of the Horror Writers Association’s Outreach Program. Created in 2016 by Michele Brittany and Nicholas Diak, the Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference has been a venue for horror scholars to present their work alongside professional writers and editors in the publishing industry. The conference has also been the genesis of the Horror Writer Association’s first academic release, Horror Literature from Gothic to Post-Modern: Critical Essays, composed entirely of Ann Radcliffe Conference presenters, published by McFarland in February 2020.

Membership to the Horror Writers Association is not required to submit or present, however registration to StokerCon 2023 is required to be accepted and to present. StokerCon registration, including full event registration and day passes, can be obtained by going to https://www.stokercon.com.

There is no additional registration or fees for the Ann Radcliffe
Academic Conference outside StokerCon registration. If interested in applying to the Horror Writers Association as an academic member, please see www.horror.org/about/.