27 January 2022 As you all know by now, it was necessary to postpone our conference once again due to the impact of the Covid-19 virus. In many respects, this decision was made for us, because it is impossible to either predict travel or depend on it under the current situation. Since the majority of our participants come from other countries, our decision was clearly a necessary one. I want to thank you for your patience and understanding during this regretful and difficult time.
That said, four things associated with the conference will continue without pause: 1) The short Story Contest; 2) The conference anthology; 3) The Flash Fiction Contest, and 4) Abstracts and panels for the conference program.
Stories for the contest and the anthology should be sent to me directly at mauricel@uca.edu. The deadline for these is April 1, 2022. Guidelines for the contest are on the website. Please note that the portal for payment of the reading fees is open and available. For the anthology, it cannot be a story that has been published in English; if it is in translation, the name of the translator must be included; and if possible, please keep the word count under 4,000.
The Flash Fiction Contest will be postponed to 2023.
The deadline for abstracts is January 1, 2023; so there is plenty of time to present them. However, I would recommend sending them in much earlier, because we already have a significant number of abstracts, and we will close the program when it fulfills the time allotted. The website for the abstracts is up and working at present. Please send them to me directly as well at mauricel@uca.edu.
On behalf of the Board, the Co-Director, and the organizing committee members at National Institute of Education, I want to apologize for this delay.
We look forward to seeing you in 2023 and to a celebration unlike any other. Please be well and safe and have a productive and fruitful 2022.
If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Thank you.
Prof. Maurice A. Lee, Director