ACCUTE 2026 ANNUAL CONFERENCE – 4-7 June 2026 CALL FOR PANELS
ACCUTE is pleased to announce that the ACCUTE 2026 conference will take place as an in-person conference (with some hybrid options) at Concordia University in Montréal from Thursday, June 4th to Sunday June 7th, 2026
The annual ACCUTE conference includes general panels developed from papers submitted individually, as well as member organized panels. At this time, ACCUTE is accepting proposals for Member-Organized Panels, Joint Sponsored Panels, and Creative Writing Panels for the 2026 conference.
Separate calls for Member-Organized Workshops and Individual Papers will follow at a later date.
MEMBER-ORGANIZED PANELS
Member-Organized Panels are proposed by an ACCUTE member for the annual ACCUTE conference. Member-Organized Panels are not invitational: the organizer describes the topic but does not pre-select the participants. As with general submissions to the ACCUTE conference, paper proposals and submitted papers are peer-reviewed with the panel organizer acting as the first vettor. The organizing member is expected to attend the ACCUTE conference to act as Panel Chair. Note: Member-organizers do not typically present on the panels they organize and are ineligible for ACCUTE travel funding unless they are submitting a paper on another panel.
JOINT-SPONSORED PANELS
Joint-sponsored panels are co-sponsored by another academic association. These panels are most often initiated by an ACCUTE member who is also a member of the organization that jointly sponsors the panel. Joint-sponsored panels are intended to foster links between ACCUTE and other scholarly associations, whether those associations regularly attend the annual ACCUTE conference, or not. Of special interest to ACCUTE are those organizations that address fields that have traditionally been under-represented at our conference, including those that pre-date the twentieth century. Any panel topic that reflects ACCUTE’s broad mandate of literary study will be considered.
CREATIVE WRITING PANELS
Creative Writing Panels are member-organized panels, but they are organized as part of the Creative Writing Collective (CWC) and will focus on creative writing practice, pedagogy, and professional concerns. They may also take the form of literary readings or presentations or creative writing contexts and research. The CWC encourages proposals covering a range of topics, such as decolonization and creative writing; creative writing mentorship and pedagogy; building anti-racist writing workshops; craft and process. The submission process is the same as for Member-Organized panels.
The deadline to submit panels is Friday, 12 September 2025.
See HOW TO SUBMIT A PANEL PROPOSAL, below.
PANEL FORMATS
ACCUTE panels are typically 90 minutes in length. A panel may follow the conventional three-or four-paper format, but we also encourage proposers to consider alternative formats such as:
*Round Table: Participants briefly present and have a discussion on a designated topic.
*Demonstrations: Participants present on teaching or technological innovations, with explanations and discussion.
*Interview session: Participants give a brief presentation and are then interviewed by the next panelist, who then presents their work.
*Creative writing panel: Discussion based on participants’ creative work.
*Collaborative presentations: Participants present as a group or team (rather than individually).
*Closed-Door Meetings: Participants meet privately in the context of ACCUTE. Such a meeting space can be made available to those who request it, especially for priority and equity-deserving groups.
*Other formats: Members should feel free to imagine and propose an alternate format of scholarly presentation and engagement that would fit within a 90-minute time slot. We are excited to hear your suggestions and encourage innovation in forms.
*NOTE: A call for Member-Organized Workshops will be distributed at a later date.
HOW TO SUBMIT A PANEL PROPOSAL OR RELATED INFORMATION
To submit a panel proposal, please submit your panel proposal using this webform. If you have any questions about the submission process, please contact Ghislaine Comeau at info.accute@gmail.com.
Deadline: All Panel Proposals and Panel related communications must be received by Friday, 11 September 2025.
If accepted, your CFP will be circulated in September with a deadline for submissions of mid-November. Submissions will come through the Online Proposal Submission Form on the ACCUTE website, and then be forwarded to you (the panel organizer[s]) for first vetting and selection. Paper proposals submitted to a panel call not selected for the panel will go into the General Pool for consideration. The General Call for Individual Papers, and the Call for Workshops will follow at a later date.
WHAT MAKES A GOOD CALL FOR PAPERS (CFP)?
Some CFPs attract many submissions; some, few or none. A successful CFP is neither too general (Ellison’s fiction, problems in poetry) nor too specific (Jungian approaches to “The Pardoner’s Tale”, uses of the first person in experimental maritime autofiction). It identifies an interesting or timely topic or critical problem, or an under-represented area, and reflects current scholarship in that field. Think of the eventual audience as well as the potential submitters: try to pick a topic that is not overly specialized and that has a general or cross-field appeal. Craft the CFP carefully, without issuing too many directives but a generous list of possibilities and let your submitters show what they can do with it. Finally, be sure to spend some time publicizing the CFP through your networks to the kinds of scholars who would be an asset to the event. We will work to advertise it widely, as well.
We encourage anyone planning a panel to consult ACCUTE’s Equity Statement and to consider how their panel fulfills the ambitions and values it seeks to uphold.
Please contact Ghislaine Comeau at info.accute@gmail.com with any questions.
For questions specific to Creative Writing panels, you may contact Glenn Clifton at glenn.clifton@sheridancollege.ca.
