The 2025 ALSCW Conference will take place at the Ohio State University (Columbus), from Thursday, November 6 to Sunday, November 9, 2025. This conference features a rich selection of seminars (on topics such as Miłosz and Herbert, literary ghosts, Toni Morrison, and teaching writing through literature); panels on Frederick Douglass, David Ferry’s translations, and more; a presentation by Max Rudin, president of Library of America; a banquet reading by Lysley Tenorio; readings by David Lehman, Mary Jo Salter, and Matthew Buckley Smith; and a concert by the Platon Karataev duo from Hungary.

Please visit this page regularly for updated information.

Below you will find information concerning membership, conference registration (including the banquet), and accommodations. Please read the information below carefully.

1) Membership

Everyone participating in the conference must be a member of the ALSCW. Johns Hopkins University Press (JHUP) handles membership and renewals for the ALSCW. JHUP collects membership fees electronically. If you haven’t joined or renewed your membership, we ask that you please do so right away.

Members receive three annual issues of Literary Imagination, online access to back issues of Literary Imagination, access to the ALSCW online journal, Literary Matters, and regular communications from our D.C. headquarters regarding events, upcoming conferences, and other news.

Please join or renew at the JHUP website (https://alscw.press.jhu.edu/membership/join). JHUP will provide us with a list of members before the conference. Only memberships for 2025 are valid for the conference.

If you have difficulties joining or renewing, or have questions, please send an email to alscw@cua.edu.

2) Conference Registration

Please revisit this page for registration information.

3) Accommodations

Please revisit this page for information about accommodations.

4) General Information

Please note that ALSCW members include university academics, secondary school teachers, creative writers, independent scholars, artists, students, editors, and even a few literary agents and scientists. Participants are urged to keep their presentations jargon free and accessible to those not working in their fields. People attending but not giving formal presentations are encouraged to participate actively in discussions.

ALSCW conferences are, in fact, designed to promote an ongoing conversation about literature, literary history, and the arts. We try to make sure nothing is rushed. Plenary panels and seminars each run for up to two hours and offer ample opportunity for discussion. Participants move back and forth from seminars (four at a time) to plenary sessions (one at a time) to social gatherings, performances, and readings in the evening. The goal is to provide space for a constant cross-pollination of materials, ideas, and personalities. Past participants have found great benefit in exchanges between well-informed people who may not share a specialization. We are proud to have a very distinguished membership, and part of our tradition involves mentoring younger members.

We look forward to seeing you at the Ohio State University. Many thanks for contributing to the ALSCW’s mission to help literature and the arts thrive!