A select group of graduate scholars from universities across the country has been invited to MTSU on Saturday, Sept. 22, to participate in the fifth annual literary conference hosted by the university’s English Graduate Student Organization.

“Revisions, Retellings and Adaptations,” the theme of this year’s event, has drawn submissions from researchers who will present research in various categories of literary studies including Victorian, American and British literature; women’s and gender studies; popular cultural and film; and children’s literature.

“This provides students of our university and surrounding colleges the unique opportunity to present scholarship in a friendly environment,” Gary Gravely, who is president and coordinator of the student organization, said of the upcoming event.

“Although this is a small academic conference, it offers a diverse group of presentations that could easily appeal to many areas within English studies as well as the larger academic community.”

Dr. Martha Hixon

Children’s literature scholar and featured keynote speaker Dr. Martha Hixon, an MTSU professor, has spent much of her career researching the history and cultural implications of folk and fairy tales and their modern adaptations.

Her professional achievements include numerous conference presentations and journal publications. An active member of the international Children’s Literature Association, Hixon previously served on the executive board as both vice president and president.

Since joining MTSU’s English Department in 1999, she has received the university’s Outstanding Honors Faculty Award and the recent MTSU Foundation Outstanding Teacher Award for 2012.

Hixon’s lecture, “A Neverending Story: Revisions, Retellings and Adaptations in Folktales and Children’s Literature” will explore how and why fairytales are continually recreated and retold, by using the story of “Snow White” from the Brothers Grimm as a key example.

The English Graduate Student Organization event is free, but seating is limited. It will be held in Rooms S-272 and S-274 of the Business and Aerospace Building on campus.

Registration begins at 8 a.m. and the day’s events are expected to conclude by 6 p.m. For more information about EGSO, visit http://mtsuegso.org.

— Lauren Price (news@mtsu.edu)