Music and the American Literary Imagination
January 28 – January 30, 2027
Hyatt Centric Downtown Nashville
210 Molloy Street
Nashville, TN 37201
Conference Director: Olivia Carr Edenfield, Georgia Southern University
Keynote Speaker: Kirk Curnutt, Troy University
Open Plenary: Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood: Nina Simone, Langston Hughes, and the Birth of Black Power: A Conversation with Jason Miller, North Carolina State University, and Anthony Reed, Vanderbilt University
Conference Fee: $250
For our 2027 Winter Symposium, the American Literature Association will meet in vibrant Nashville, Tennessee, the “Athens of the South.” The Hyatt Centric is a contemporary boutique hotel perfectly located in the heart of SoBro, close to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Music City Center. Single and double rooms will be available for $219 a night plus taxes. Valet parking is available. The influence of music on American letters is as old and as various as the rich cultural pockets of its people. From the effects of Protestant hymns on the poetry of Emily Dickinson to the blues-inspired fiction of James Baldwin, the profound impact that music has had on the literature of America remains a valuable topic for critical exploration. This symposium will focus on the innovative interplay between music and American letters.
Please email all proposals to the Conference Director, Olivia Carr Edenfield, at ALA@georgiasouthern.edu by November 20, 2026