Jessica Roberson (Mount Saint Mary's University)
jrob@****.com (Log-in to reveal)

Inviting papers that explore all aspects of materiality and narrative—stories told by artifacts, objects and materials; craft and making as narrative acts; texts (including games, kits, poetry, novels, digital formats, etc.) that discuss materiality; souvenirs and keepsakes; material cultures of the book, printing and other aspects of book history; theorizations of the tangible. Critical-creative and pedagogy-focused projects are welcome. Especially interested in presentations that engage with the conference theme, “Geographies of the Fantastic and the Quotidian,” through the lens of materiality.

This session seeks to explore the role that materiality and embodiment play in the crafting and exploration of narrative, whether that entails speaking objects, narratives that move out of or in between the codex and other media formats, or something else entirely. We would be particularly interested in critical-creative projects that involve some kind of “making,” including pedagogical presentations, potentially with an interactive element. We are also enthusiastic about all aspects of book history and the material cultures of the book and bookish objects, narrative and DIY arts and crafts. Given the conference theme, papers that speak to mundane and/or fantastical objects, maps, charts, journeys and processes seem especially appropriate. Broadly speaking, this session is a space for discussions of the theory, aesthetics, rhetorics and hands-on exploration of the relationships between the material and immaterial.