We are pleased to announce and invite participation in the upcoming July 8-22, 2020, online conference of the Association for Literature, Environment, and Culture in Canada (ALECC) on the theme Watershed, lit., fig. Please browse the conference program at https://conferences.usask.ca/alecc2020/. Register for free at Eventbrite.“Watershed, lit., fig.” is an interdisciplinary conference of environmental humanities and literary scholars, creative writers, artists, and environmental activists. As watersheds refer to crucial periods or turning points, as well as to drainage basins for water and the land situated immediately between rivers, “Watershed, lit., fig.” provides a compelling opportunity to discuss physical watersheds in terms of the crucial period we are living through, marked by climate, extinction, and migration emergencies, new political formations, and shifting forms of writing, media, mediation, and data.

This online conference will feature a keynote by poet Rita Wong with live discussion, and a headline event with writers Trevor Herriot, Louise Halfe, and Candace Savage. The conference will also feature “Word Splash,” a celebration of Métis and First Nations Writing organized by the Saskatchewan Aboriginal Writers’ Circle. Our art, film and literary events also include live poetry and other book launches and an open-mic hosted by MFA creative writing students at the University of Saskatchewan.

We hope you will join us for a live discussion on “e-Race-sures: A conversation about whose voices, stories, and bodies matter in the environmental humanities and creative communities,” with Dr. Anita Girvan and Rina Garcia Chua, PhD candidate, on July 8th.

The keynote and asynchronous conference panels will be available July 8-22, 2020.

See our conference website for the full program: https://conferences.usask.ca/alecc2020/

We gratefully acknowledge the support of our sponsors and funders: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), University of Saskatchewan, Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild, and Lakehead University.

Please direct any questions to conference@alecc.ca.