Thursday, October 27, 3:00-5:00 p.m., USD English Department, Dakota Hall #212

Friday, October 28, 7:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m., Muenster University Center, East Lounge (Second Floor)

Saturday, October 29, 7:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m., Muenster University Center, East Lounge (Second Floor)

At registration/check-in, you can pick up your conference badge, the conference program, as well as a registration packet that will include campus and local maps, local information, and a visitor parking pass for those of you who are out-of-town visitors to USD.

TECHNOLOGY NEEDS AND WI-FI:

The Muenster University Center is wi-fi ready. You may sign in by using “usdguest”.

If you require technological needs for your presentation, please make sure to bring your own laptops. MUC 216 will have a digital projector, cords, and other equipment ready for your presentations.

BOOKS:

A book table with books for purchase by conference panelists and featured authors will be set up in the Muenster University Center East Lounge. Additionally, USD Barnes & Noble Bookstore, located downstairs in the Muenster University Center, will have a display table for the conference with titles by featured authors and their store will be open throughout the conference. USD Barnes & Noble Bookstore will also staff a book table during all of the featured author readings in Farber Hall and the keynote reading in the MUC Ballroom.

CONFERENCE MEALS AND REFRESHMENTS:

Free refreshments (muffins, breads, scones, fruit, bagels, juice, coffee and water) will be made available throughout the morning for registered conferees in the Muenster University Center East Lounge, adjacent to the registration table.

It’s not too late to register for conference meals (or additional meals), if you wish. Local panelists can simply fill out an additional registration form and check off/pay for meals at the English Dept. office. Out-of-towners can e-mail me with meal requests which you can pay for at conference check-in, and I will add you to the catering headcount. (We will also be able to accommodate, up to a point, last-minute meal purchases at the time of the conference, but advance notice will really help to keep our catering orders on track.) Meal locations/venues and menus are posted at the conference blog.

LODGING INFORMATION:

I have added additional information regarding Vermillion lodging to the “Lodging in Vermillion, South Dakota” page on the header link at the top of the conference blog. Typically, we steer out-of-town visitors toward the Comfort Inn or the Holiday Inn Express. Excellent budget rates (at our more quirky, mom-and-pop-type lodging venues) might make some of the other lodging options more appealing. For a slightly more upscale lodging option, there are also a limited number of Bed & Breakfast rooms available at our lovely Buffalo Run Winery.

I-29 AND MISSOURI RIVER FLOODING:

If you are approaching Vermillion and/or Sioux City, Iowa from the South on I-29, please be aware that there may still be closures along the interstate due to the summer flooding. Please check for road closure information and plan alternate routes in advance, as necessary. The Iowa DOT website has been a particularly useful resource for me throughout the summer: Iowa DOT Road Closures Information — http://www.511ia.org/

The Nebraska DOR website might also be helpful for you as well, depending on where you’re traveling from: http://www.dor.state.ne.us/

MAPS:

Vermillion maps and USD camps maps are electronically available on the conference blog. Hard copies of maps will also be placed in your conference folders.

PARKING:

Temporary visitor passes will be made available to out of town conference guests. These will be placed in your conference folders.

VERMILLION PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION INFORMATION:

Vermillion Public Transport (624-RIDE)

Hours of Operation:
Monday – Friday – 8:00am – 10:00pm
Saturday – 9:00am – 7:00pm
Sunday – 9:00am – 2:00pm

Safe Ride (affectionately referred to by Vermillionaires as the “Drunk Bus”):
Thursday, Friday, Saturday – 10:00pm – 3:00am

Vermillion Public Transit provides local rides in and around the Vermillion area. While mostly providing door-to-door transportation within Vermillion, the transit service is willing to take people as far as Meckling, SD or Burbank, SD for an additional charge. Rides with Vermillion Public Transit may be scheduled by contacting the dispatcher at 624-RIDE during the hours of operation. Rides cost $2.50 each way.

Please let me know if there’s anything I can help you with in the meantime!

Looking forward to a great conference!

If you haven’t registered yet, please do so as soon as possible. Downloadable registration forms are available in the menu links at the top of this webpage.

The conference program was updated and revised over the weekend, and you can review the most current version here: 2011 John R. Milton Writers’ Conference Draft Schedule (Also available through header link above.)

Conference check-in and registration will take place at the following times/locations:

Thursday, October 27, 3:00-5:00 p.m., USD English Department, Dakota Hall #212

Friday, October 28, 7:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m., Muenster University Center, East Lounge (Second Floor)

Saturday, October 29, 7:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m., Muenster University Center, East Lounge (Second Floor)

At registration/check-in, you can pick up your conference badge, the conference program, as well as a registration packet that will include campus and local maps, local information, and a visitor parking pass for those of you who are out-of-town visitors to USD.

Free refreshments (muffins, breads, scones, fruit, bagels, juice, coffee and water) will be made available throughout the morning for registered conferees in the Muenster University Center East Lounge, adjacent to the registration table.

A book table with books for purchase by conference panelists and featured authors will be set up in the Muenster University Center East Lounge. Additionally, USD Barnes & Noble Bookstore, located downstairs in the Muenster University Center, will have a display table for the conference with titles by featured authors and their store will be open throughout the conference. USD Barnes & Noble Bookstore will also staff a book table during all of the featured author readings in Farber Hall and the Muenster University Ballroom (4:00-5:30 p.m. and 7:00-8:30 p.m., Friday, 10/28, and Saturday, 10/29).

It’s not too late to register for conference meals (or additional meals), if you wish. Local panelists can simply fill out an additional registration form and check off/pay for meals at the English Dept. office. Out-of-towners can fill out an additional registration form, check off desired meal requests, and send it in to the address listed at the bottom of the form. If it’s too close to the conference dates for snail mail, out-of-town conferees can also e-mail me with meal requests which you can pay for at conference check-in, and I will add you to the catering headcount. (We will also be able to accommodate, up to a point, last-minute meal purchases at the time of the conference, but advance notice will really help to keep our catering orders on track.) Meal locations/venues and meal menus are posted in the header links above.

VERMILLION MAPS AND CAMPUS MAPS:

Vermillion and USD maps can be located in the header menu above. Hard copies of local and campus maps will also be included in your conference folders.

TRAVEL ON I-29:

If you are approaching Vermillion and/or Sioux City, Iowa from the South on I-29, please be aware that there may still be closures along the interstate due to the summer flooding. Please check for road closure information and plan alternate routes in advance, as necessary. The Iowa DOT website has been a particularly useful resource for me throughout the summer: Iowa DOT Road Closures Information

LODGING INFORMATION:

I have added additional information regarding Vermillion lodging to the “Lodging in Vermillion, South Dakota” page on header menu above. Typically, we steer out-of-town visitors toward the Comfort Inn or the Holiday Inn Express. Excellent budget rates (at our more quirky, mom-and-pop-type lodging venues) might make some of the other lodging options more appealing. For a slightly more upscale lodging option, there are also a limited number of Bed & Breakfast rooms available at our lovely Buffalo Run Winery.

VERMILLION PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION INFORMATION:

Vermillion Public Transport (624-RIDE)

Hours of Operation:
Monday – Friday – 8:00am – 10:00pm
Saturday – 9:00am – 7:00pm
Sunday – 9:00am – 2:00pm

Safe Ride:
Thursday, Friday, Saturday – 10:00pm – 3:00am

Other Information:
Vermillion Public Transit provides local rides in and around the Vermillion area. While mostly providing door-to-door transportation within Vermillion, the transit service is willing to take people as far as Meckling, SD or Burbank, SD for an additional charge. Rides with Vermillion Public Transit may be scheduled by contacting the dispatcher at 624-RIDE during the hours of operation. Rides cost $2.50 each way.

This year’s conference is shaping up very nicely! The submissions this year were outstanding, and we have a wide variety of both critical and creative panels, with approximately 65 presenters. You may take a peek at this cornucopia of forthcoming literary goodness, using the link to the draft conference schedule below. (This link is also posted as one of the header/menu links above):

2011 John R. Milton Writers’ Conference Schedule (Current Draft Version).

CFP: Outlaw!: Law and (Dis)Order in the American West (9/01/11; The University of South Dakota, Vermillion, South Dakota,10/27/11-10/29/11)

Please join us for the biennial John R. Milton Writers’ Conference, held October 27-29, 2011, at The University of South Dakota in Vermillion, South Dakota.

We are seeking panel and roundtable proposals, scholarly papers, and creative writing related (either explicitly or implicitly) to the theme of Outlaw!: Law and (Dis)Order in the American West. Possible topics or approaches might include, but aren’t limited to:

• Law and (dis)order in Western American literature, history, and culture;
• Law and (dis)order in relationship to broken treaties, obligatory assimilation, as well as post-colonial and/or indigenous studies in American Indian literature, history, and culture;
• Law and (dis)order in the American West with respect to environmental issues and ecocriticism;
• Outlaw as myth and fantasy space in the American West;
• Outlaw as Other;
• Gender outlaws, and/or queering the American West;
• Borders, border crossings, and boundary transgressions;
• Virtual outlaws, and/or outlaws in the “new frontier” of cyber-space; and
• Representations of outlaws and/or law and (dis)order in popular culture (including, but not limited to, HBO’s Deadwood and Joss Whedon’s Firefly, Westerns (both film and television), graphic novels, and science fiction.

For critical work, please submit a 250-word abstract, along with a brief biographical note, by September 1, 2011. Panel proposals should include individual paper abstracts and biographical notes for all of the participating panelists, in addition to a 250-word justification for the panel. Roundtable proposals should include a 250-word justification for the roundtable session, along with biographical notes for the participating round table session members.

For creative submissions, please submit either 8-10 pages of poetry, or no more than 25 pages of creative prose writing, along with a short biographical note, by September 1, 2011. While creative work that either explicitly or implicitly addresses the conference theme, or is related in some way to region or landscape are particularly welcome, all types of creative work on any theme and in any style will be gladly considered for readings at the conference’s creative writing panels.

All submissions should be sent to Lee Ann Roripaugh at Lee.Roripaugh@usd.edu

For additional questions or information, please e-mail: Lee.Roripaugh@usd.edu

This year’s visiting featured writers will include Mark Spragg (keynote), Sherwin Bitsui, Kristin Naca, Karen Gettert Shoemaker, William Trowbridge, and USD visiting writer David Marshall Chan, who will give readings and book signings along with permanent USD creative writing faculty Ed Allen and Lee Ann Roripaugh. Prior year’s conferences have brought in well over 100 attendees, including presenting writers and scholars from all across the region and nation—including even the occasional international conferee.

The biennial John R. Milton Writers’ Conference was established in 1998 to celebrate the life and work of University of South Dakota English Professor and South Dakota Review founder John R. Milton. The conference pays tribute to John R. Milton’s lifelong engagement with and commitment to Western writers and literature. With respect to this year’s theme of “Outlaw!: Law and (Dis)Order in the American West,” conferees are invited to submit paper and/or panel proposals that consider (but aren’t limited to) some of the following topics: law and (dis)order in Western American literature, history, and culture; law and (dis)order in relationship to broken treaties, obligatory assimilation, as well as post-colonial and/or indigenous studies in American Indian literature, history, and culture; law and (dis)order in the American West with respect to environmental issues and ecocriticism; outlaw as myth and fantasy space in the American West; outlaw as Other; gender outlaws, and/or queering the American West; borders, border crossings, and boundary transgressions; virtual outlaws, and/or outlaws in the “new frontier” of cyber-space; and representations of outlaws and/or law and (dis)order in popular culture (including, but not limited to, HBO’s Deadwood and Joss Whedon’s Firefly, Westerns (both film and television), graphic novels, and science fiction.

This year’s event is sponsored by the College of Arts & Sciences, the Department of English, Barnes & Noble, South Dakota Review, the John R. Milton Endowment and the Wayne S. and Esther M. Knutson Endowment of the USD Foundation, and Mr. and Mrs. Philip A. Riley, Jr., as well as by grants from the South Dakota Humanities Council.

Registration is open to the public and USD alumni/ae are especially welcome. For detailed conference information, please visit http://miltonconference.wordpress.com or contact the Department of English at (605) 677-5229.

Please join us for the biennial John R. Milton Writers’ Conference, held October 27-29, 2011, at The University of South Dakota in Vermillion, South Dakota.

We are seeking panel and roundtable proposals, scholarly papers, and creative writing related (either explicitly or implicitly) to the theme of Outlaw!: Law and (Dis)Order in the American West. Possible topics or approaches might include, but aren’t limited to:

• Law and (dis)order in Western American literature, history, and culture;
• Law and (dis)order in relationship to broken treaties, obligatory assimilation, as well as post-colonial and/or indigenous studies in American Indian literature, history, and culture;
• Law and (dis)order in the American West with respect to environmental issues and ecocriticism;
• Outlaw as myth and fantasy space in the American West;
• Outlaw as Other;
• Gender outlaws, and/or queering the American West;
• Borders, border crossings, and boundary transgressions;
• Virtual outlaws, and/or outlaws in the “new frontier” of cyber-space; and
• Representations of outlaws and/or law and (dis)order in popular culture (including, but not limited to, HBO’s Deadwood and Joss Whedon’s Firefly, Westerns (both film and television), graphic novels, and science fiction.

For critical work, please submit a 250-word abstract, along with a brief biographical note, by September 1, 2011. Panel proposals should include individual paper abstracts and biographical notes for all of the participating panelists, in addition to a 250-word justification for the panel. Roundtable proposals should include a 250-word justification for the roundtable session, along with biographical notes for the participating round table session members.

For creative submissions, please submit either 8-10 pages of poetry, or no more than 25 pages of creative prose writing, along with a short biographical note, by September 1, 2011. While creative work that either explicitly or implicitly addresses the conference theme, or is related in some way to region or landscape are particularly welcome, all types of creative work on any theme and in any style will be gladly considered for readings at the conference’s creative writing panels.

All submissions should be sent to Lee Ann Roripaugh at Lee.Roripaugh@usd.edu