Pacific Northwest Literatures (Panel / In-Person)

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Special Session
American / Our Ruling Classes: Class, Power, Conflict

Kristin Brunnemer (Pierce College - Fort Steilacoom)
kris@****.com (Log-in to reveal)

Past and present, the Pacific Northwest has functioned in literature as a dynamic space defined by transition, ecological precarity, and socio-political friction. This panel explores writers of fiction, poetry, memoir, and non-fiction whose work investigates the unique sense of place, history, and culture defining the region. We welcome papers that engage with the tensions between industry and preservation, indigenous sovereignty, labor movements, and the mythologies of the western wilderness.

Hosting PAMLA 2026 in Seattle provides a perfect opportunity to interrogate the rich literary history of the Pacific Northwest. In keeping with this year's conference theme, Our Ruling Classes: Culture, Power, Conflict, this session invites papers that explore how regional writers navigate the power dynamics, ecological landscapes, and cultural shifts of the Pacific Northwest.

We welcome proposals utilizing diverse theoretical frameworks to examine regional themes, including but not limited to:

Ecology, Activism, and the Anthropocene: Tensions between corporate extraction (logging, fishing, agriculture) and environmental preservation; the literal and symbolic power of rain and water.

Labor and Class Movements: Historic and contemporary representations of labor conflict, unionization, and socio-economic divides in the Northwest.

Indigenous Ecologies and Sovereignty: First Nations/Native American literatures and resistance to colonial structures.

Wilderness, Isolation, and Subversion: The Pacific Northwest as a frontier of isolation, psychological depth, or speculative futures.

Papers may focus on any regional writers, including but not limited to:

Fiction & Speculative Fiction: Ursula K. Le Guin, Octavia Butler, Ken Kesey, Sherman Alexie, Marilynne Robinson, Chuck Palahniuk, Kristin Hannah, David Guterson, Jess Walter, Jamie Ford, Garth Stein.

Poetry: Theodore Roethke, Tess Gallagher, Richard Hugo, Carolyn Kizer, Gary Snyder, William Stafford, E.J. Koh, Kim Stafford.

Non-Fiction & Graphic Memoir: Timothy Egan, Ellen Forney, Peter Donahue.