CWWN - AGM 13th July 2008

Development of the network

        ● Structure and Activities
            Mary Eagleton (Leeds Met) reported on the history of the network:
            Network was started in 2005 “partly out of hope, out of angst, out of trepidation”! It was designed to be a space away from institutional pressures to support research in the field of contemporary women’s writing. Many in the network’s steering group have had experience of other feminist groups and so knew that these groups often have short histories. However, CWWN has gone from strength to strength. The steering group meets every 3 months. This is the network’s second biennial conference. There was a graduate CWWN conference last year. The establishment of the journal Contemporary Women’s Writing (OUP) has been greatly welcomed and supported by the Network.
        ● Postgraduate Network
            Claire O’Callaghan (Leicester) and Katsura Sako (Warwick) reported on the successful postgraduate conference that was held at the University of Warwick last summer. Katsura read from a report by the absent Ginette Carpenter that 24 papers were presented and the conference made a small profit. The group plans to do a conference in the years between the CWWN biennial conferences. June/July next year. A conference planning meeting will take place in September this year. Looking for volunteers to host the conference and also for postgraduates to step up and take over leadership roles as several of the active members of PGCWWN are graduating soon. Please contact Claire for further information:  (email) PGCWWN does have a discussion group but it is not yet linked to the CWWN website. Susan Stanford Friedman made the point that “postgraduate” is a very UK-based term and may confuse graduate students in the US who might think that it was a stage of study beyond theirs.
        ● Links with pedagogy and the Subject Centre
            Unfortunately, Gina Wisker (Brighton) was unable to be present to give a report. Mary Eagleton indicated that the network has links with the English Subject Centre and has held a day conference sponsored by the Subject Centre and hosted by Gina Wisker at Brighton on teaching contemporary women’s writing. The programme of the conference is available in the Subject Centre’s Event Archive: http://www.english.heacademy.ac.uk/explore/events/event_detail.php?event_index=165.

Development of the Journal, Contemporary Women’s Writing

        ● Overview
            Susan Stanford Friedman (US Co-editor; Wisconsin) introduced the history of the journal which was launched in the US at the MLA Convention in Washington and in the UK at the Second International Doris Lessing Conference at Leeds Met University. Susan Stanford Friedman described being invited to join an already existing UK editorial team. She is keen to make it inter- and trans-national. Susan described the journal as “naming a field” and “claiming a space for ourselves in the academy.” Susan drew our attention to the fact that 19 countries were represented at this conference. Congratulations to Emma for her hard work in achieving that internationalism. Susan sees the internationalism of the field as one of the big justifications of the category “women writers.” The journal is keen to problematize the very categories it is working under. Please ask your libraries to subscribe and submit your work. Encourage others to submit work, too. If you want more involvement, please contact Mary Eagleton or Susan Stanford Friedman. Contact information for the journal is available at: http://cww.oxfordjournals.org/.
Carole Boyce Davies suggested that links could be made to Caribbean Women Writers Association and African Literature Association. (Emma mentioned that the Caribbean Women Writers Association had run an advert/cfp for this conference for her.) We have a link with an Indian Contemporary Women’s Writing group. Mary Joannou suggested linking with the Welsh women writers associated with the Honno press.
    ● Special Issue on Conference theme of Diaspora
            Emma Parker (conference organizer; Leicester) announced that there will be a Special Issue of CWW on diaspora. She drew attention to the procedure for submitting conference papers for consideration. The sheet in the conference pack indicates a two-stage process. Fully-revised articles will go through double peer review. The special issue will be 3:1 in July 2009. Publish in Advance of Print will allow ready articles to go online in advance of that date.
    ● Book Reviews
            Clare Hanson (Southampton; C.Hanson@soton.ac.uk) and Edith Frampton (San Diego State; eframpto@mail.sdsu.edu) reported on book reviews and expressed a desire to get international dialogue going through the book reviews. Please submit book reviews to them. Contact them if you have a book you would like to have reviewed or if you are prepared to review a book. 6-700 words for a review or 1200 words for two books.

Development of Website

    ● Overview
        Imelda Whelehan (de Montfort) now hosts the website at De Montfort University. It has a news section where we are happy to post any information about activities in the field. Please send information to Imelda or use the “contact us” button on the website.
    ● Launch of the Contemporary Women’s Writing Annotated Bibliography
        Claire O’Callaghan (Leicester) received applause for her wonderful work on this initiative (view). The annotated bibliography currently contains 400 titles and Claire has seen them all. Nothing pre-1970 but with a focus on more contemporary than that. Please send references of articles and books to Claire for inclusion (email)

Thinking Ahead

    ● Move Towards An Association
        Mary Joannou (Anglia Ruskin) and Susan Watkins (Leeds Met) raised the idea of moving from a network to an association. The steering group has achieved a great deal but now faces issues of sustainability and concerns about democracy, inclusion and expansion. It would also be helpful to generate some income as may be possible through association dues. Look at other possible models: British Association of Romanticism Studies; British Association of Victorian Studies; Narrative Society; Women’s History Network. MLA has just changed rules for allied associations but in the future an American colleague could develop US-based part of association with links to MLA. Links suggested above (2) might also be helpful.

5. Initiatives/suggestions/links…
    ● Nice to have a listserv. Needs to be set up and monitored. Resources and time.
    ● Possibilities for future hosts for the conference… Brazil? Tarragona, Spain? California?
 
Finally, many thanks to Emma Parker for organizing a wonderful and truly international conference.