The 2010 National Oz Conference Call for Papers

The Arne Nixon Center for the Study of Children’s Literature at California State University, Fresno, will host a national Oz conference, co-sponsored by the International Wizard of Oz Club, on 14-16 May 2010.

Featured speakers will include:

• Gregory Maguire, author of Wicked
• Michael Patrick Hearn, author of The Annotated Wizard of Oz
• Eric Shanower, writer and/or artist on many Oz-related comics titles, including the upcoming Little Adventures in Oz reissues.
• John Fricke, coauthor of the upcoming The Wizard of Oz: An Illustrated Companion to the Timeless Movie Classic
• Kathleen Krull, author of The Road to Oz: Twists, Turns, Bumps, and Triumphs in the Life of L. Frank Baum
• British Oz illustrator Graham Rawle

The conference will include a performance of Time Again in Oz, a musical adapted from Ozma of Oz by Suzan L. Zeder. There’s more about this show at the website of composer Richard Gray.

The conference has issued a call for papers on the theme of “Oz: The Books.” Organizers invite people to submit ideas for fifteen-minute presentations for breakout sessions on 14 May. There are slots for up to 48 papers. Possible topics include:

• Biographies of L. Frank Baum
• Baum, W.W. Denslow, and the World Columbian Exposition
• The influence of Matilda Joslyn Gage on Baum, her son-in-law
• Compare Oz authors, especially Baum and Ruth Plumly Thompson
• Compare Baum to Piers Anthony, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Lewis Carroll, Roald Dahl, Norton Juster, or others
• Magic and technology in Oz
• Baum’s non-Oz books
• Oz illustrators
• Oz graphic novels and comic books
• Stage and screen adaptations
• Wicked: the book and the musical
• Dark Oz themes
• Oz fan fiction
• Oz-related books for young people: Harry Sue, The Book of Fred, The Secret Order of the Gumm Street Girls, the Sisters Grimm series, DRAMA: The Four Dorothys, etc.
• Oz-related books for adults: A Barnstormer in Oz, Was, etc.
• Authors who have been influenced by the Oz books: Ray Bradbury, Harlan Ellison, Forest J. Ackerman, Gore Vidal, etc.
• Celebrity Oz fans: Shirley Temple, Herbert Grosch, Nora Ephron
• Teaching Oz
• Oz as a cultural phenomenon
• Why is Oz so enduring?

Send proposals to Allison Cowgill, chair of the paper review committee, on or before 15 Jan 2010. The proposal emails should have the subject heading “Oz conference proposal.” The first page should state the workshop title and presenter’s name, address, phone number, and email. The following page should have the workshop title again, whether it will require a PowerPoint setup (no other audiovisual equipment can be provided), and an abstract of 300-500 words—but not the presenter’s name and contact information.

Organizers will confirm receipt of proposals by email, evaluate proposals through a blind review process, and notify authors of accepted proposals by 1 Feb 2010. Presenters must register for the conference. Information about the conference, including events schedule, registration fee, housing, and transportation, will be available at the Arne Nixon Center website or by calling 559-278-8116.

I’m sorry that I’ll miss this event because I’m booked to speak at SCBWI New England’s annual conference that same weekend. (My workshop topics will be on what it means to write within genres and on the differences between writing picture books and writing scripts for comics.)