Conference Shines Light on Early British Women Writers
May 10, 2025
For centuries, women’s contributions to literature have been underrepresented. As Virginia Woolf famously observed in “A Room of One’s Own,” “For most of history, Anonymous was a woman.” Many women writers were forced to adopt male pseudonyms to see their work published, their names erased by systemic sexism embedded in literary history.
The 18th– and 19th-Century British Women Writers Conference aims to shine a light on some of those writers whose work happened in the shadows. Supported by a grant from the South Dakota Humanities Council and co-hosted by South Dakota State University and the University of South Dakota, the 33rd annual conference takes place May 15-17 at the Hilton Garden Inn Sioux Falls Downtown.
This year’s conference theme, “Transformations,” invites participants to explore “ways in which 18th– and 19th-century women and nonbinary writers represented, documented, envisioned, and created transformation within global and transatlantic contexts.”
Kerry Sinanan, Associate Professor of Global pre-1800 Literature and Culture at the University of Winnipeg, will deliver the event’s first keynote address, “Mary Prince, Jane Austen, and the Chain of Being” on Thursday, May 15. Sinanan’s research spans the Black Atlantic, Caribbean slavery and race, and the global dimensions of Black resistance and abolition, and she frequently teaches workshops surrounding decolonial curriculum.
Friday and Saturday’s keynote speakers will be Megan Peiser of Oakland University and Lisa Hager of St. Catherine University.
The roots of the British Women Writers Conference trace back to a group of graduate students from the University of Oregon and the University of Washington. Troubled by the lack of presentations on women writers at a regional British Studies Conference, they founded the British Women Writers Conference to advocate for female writers throughout history and to develop a community of scholars from multiple literary periods and disciplines. For a complete schedule of this year’s speakers, workshops, and events, visit the official conference website at https://bwwc2025.wixsite.com/bwwc2025.
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