The general call for proposals for the 2025 SSAWW conference notes that “As a community, we engage with the creative work of women across the Americas who foster change and build networks that sustain us through difficult times.” This panel seeks to gather scholars researching women writers who use/d their craft to engage their local communities in the work of “fostering change” and “building networks.” How did women writing for their local newspapers or participating in their local and/or statewide women’s clubs use their writings and public speeches to “imagine futures” for their communities?

One paper, “The Well-Known Writer You’ve Probably Never Heard Of,” will examine the poetry, fiction, club and newspaper work of long-time Tampa, Florida resident, Leonora Beck Ellis in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Please send 150-word paper abstracts and a brief bio (60 words) to Cynthia Patterson, cpatterson@usf.edu by Friday, February 21, 2025