Poe Studies Association Updates

Abstract

This past year has presented our organization with a series of challenges. However, our members have responded with ingenuity and flexibility so that we could continue the work of our mission: to support the scholarly and informal exchange of information on the life, works, times, and influence of Edgar Allan Poe.First, I’m pleased to announce that our 2020 American Literature Association presenters were able to postpone their presentations and joined us for this year’s conference. Both of our sessions were prerecorded, and instructions on how to access them will be provided as soon as we have the information. Please note that the American Literature Association has changed the weekend: the conference will take place July 7–11, 2021. As usual, we will hold our annual business meeting, and members will be able to attend virtually. I want to thank Cristina Pérez and Sławomir Studniarz, our members-at-large; Travis Montgomery, our secretary; and our presenters for their work throughout this year to make these sessions possible.Second, “Poe Takes Boston: The Fifth International Edgar Allan Poe Conference” has been rescheduled for April 7–10, 2022, in Boston at the Omni Parker House, a beautiful hotel with an impressive literary legacy. Paul Lewis, Richard Kopley, and Philip Phillips have succeeded in renegotiating our venue contract and rewriting our CFP timeline so that we will be in the best position to hold an in-person conference. We are grateful to them for their time, patience, and planning over the past year, and we hope to gather once again with our friends and colleagues to celebrate Poe.Finally, we plan to continue our monthly PSA online forums via Zoom. When Richard Kopley first proposed this idea to the executive committee, I admit that I was uncertain about how well the idea would be received. With hindsight I can see that my initial response was unwarranted. These sessions provide opportunities for our colleagues around the world to engage in discussions about various topics related to Poe, and I feel like I have been able to get to know so many more of our members through this series. For more information and access to recordings of our previous sessions, you can visit the link under Conferences on the PSA website, https://www.poestudiesassociation.org/conferences.Please watch our listserv for updates on these events and many more. I look forward to seeing you soon—whether online or in person.On January 7, 2021, more than thirty PSA members and other colleagues from sites across the globe joined together via Zoom for the organization’s annual MLA session—this year, a roundtable on “Revisiting Poe’s Poems.” Our four presenters—Maria Ishikawa, Stephen Rachman, Les Harrison, and Edward Whitley—discussed everything from Eureka to beating hearts, from creating an edition of Tamerlane to considering Whitman’s Poe. The dialogue that followed, we hope, will be a prequel to future conversations that take Poe’s poetry seriously and attempt to read it in new and compelling ways. The PSA session at the upcoming 2022 MLA Convention will be titled “Reading Poe Now.”Two panels will be presented at the 2021 American Literature Conference in Boston: “Poe in the Wireless Classroom” and “Poe’s Environmental Humanities.” I will chair the former, which will be prerecorded by the following PSA members: Susan Amper, Bronx Community College, presenting “Wi-finding Poe for the Thumb Generation”; Helciclever Barros da Silva Vitoriano, National Institute for Educational Studies and Research (Anisio, Brazil), presenting “‘The Raven’ Online: Mapping Reprints as well as Literary and Artistic Translations over the Internet”; Les Harrison, Virginia Commonwealth University, presenting “Editing Poe in the DH Classroom”; and Lesley Ginsberg, University of Colorado Springs, presenting “Teaching Poe with Digital Resources in 2020.” I plan to attend ALA in person, so maybe I will see you there for a conversation … six feet apart!As of February 22, 2021, we have 183 members. The checking account has $27,589.81. Restricted funds include: the Leslie Dameron Award, $1,501.88; the Gargano Award, $3,260.10; and the Quinn Award, $2,425.93. Restricted funds total $7,187.91. We hold three CDs, in the amounts of $6,322.74, $2,384.27, and $10,005.89. Adding the CDs to the checking account, we have a total of $46,302.21, but deducting the restricted funds, we have $39,114.30 in available funds.Please remember to renew your membership when due and notify me of change of mailing or email address. Tax-deductible donations to PSA are welcome.