Deadline: Jan 1 2025
Contact: Bryan Nichols, Florida Atlantic University
Email: bryanhnichols@gmail.com

Panel proposed for Collective Atmospheres: ASLE 2025 Biennial Conference July 8-11, 2025 University of Maryland, College Park

Write what you know? Well we’ve learned a lot more recently about the senses, cognition, and emotions of other animals. So how can we write about them in ways that support conservation, compassion, respect, and appreciation? This panel is looking for storytellers who can share challenges, tips, and techniques for creatively incorporating critical anthropomorphism (CA) into their work. CA combines scientific knowledge of animals and their environments with the writer’s intuition, creativity, and narrative skills. Cats and dogs are great, but I am especially interested in creatives who carefully and humbly take the perspective of wildlife to help people empathize. For anyone writing about animals in nature, cities, zoos or aquaria, whether it’s in children’s books, literary fiction, creative nonfiction or more, if you’re doing something that could contribute to this discussion, please submit your max 300 word proposal by Jan 1 to Bryan Nichols (bryanhnichols@gmail.com).

Posted on December 9, 2024