Another Great Day at the Literature Conference

I spent another wonderful day at the American Literature Association conference today (see also my post of 5/27/10), and heard talks on more of my favorite women writers: Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Kate Chopin, Flannery O'Connor, Constance Fenimore Woolson, and Gertrude Stein. It was both intellectually stimulating and a joy to revel in hearing such interesting talks about such great writers! An added bonus was hearing Emily Toth speak, and meeting her after the session; she is a leading scholar on women's literature - especially Kate Chopin's work - and women's issues, as well as the author of the Ms. Mentor book and columns, in which she gives astute advice to women in academe. She was very funny and very friendly. Another thing I liked about the conference was the speakers' obvious dedication to, and even love for, the authors they spoke about. Yes, they are doing their scholarly work, but their sense of connection to "their" authors was palpable.