I apologize for the lateness of this email, but as the deadline for paper proposals for ICMS 2026 approaches (Monday September 15), I want to make everyone aware that the International Pearl-Poet Society is sponsoring/co-sponsoring THREE paper sessions. You can view them on ICMS’s official “Call for Papers,” which is open for proposal submission. IPPS sessions can be accessed directly at: https://icms.confex.com/icms/2026/prelim.cgi/Index/SponsorList~International%20Pearl-Poet%20Society.
The titles of the sessions as well as information about delivery modes are as follows.
From Here to Eternity: Perspectives on Time in the Works of the Pearl-Poet [Virtual]
Time as an existential concept flows consistently through the poems of the Pearl-Poet. From the conversations of the Pearl Maiden and the Dreamer contrasting human existence and the bliss of eternal life in Heaven in Pearl to the relentless passing of (liturgical) time in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, these poems audaciously juxtapose time and eternity, life and death, vigor and decline in its various narratives. Our session invites readers to explore some of the many facets of time pertinent to a late-medieval English poet and his audiences.Geographies of the Pearl-Poet: Spaces and Places in the Corpus [Virtual]
The Pearl poems take place in strategically-chosen geographic locations and visionary landscapes. The biblical poems offer detailed descriptions of ancient world cities like Babylon and Nineveh, and the romance-world poems introduce conventional settings (eg. the court of King Arthur) as well as more esoteric spaces like the Wirral forest in SGGK or the visionary garden in Pearl. This session invites readers of the collected poems to engage the broader literary critical conversations around place, to acknowledge poetic setting as crucial to a deeper understanding of both poem(s) and poet in their medieval context.Medieval Roots and Modern Branches: Medieval Texts and Tolkien's Works [Virtual]
This session is co-sponsored by the Pearl-Poet Society and Tolkien at Kalamazoo. We have offered virtual sessions together during the past four years. Members are currently working on a special issue of the journal Enarratio on ecological themes in the works of the Pearl-Poet and J.R.R. Tolkien. We would benefit from the opportunity to gather and present new ideas in a paper session. The focus on “Medieval Roots and Modern Branches” is particularly timely in light of the work being done on this special issue and on the reception of the theme represented in the “The Rings of Power” series on Prime and the recent release of the animated film set in Middle-earth, “The Ride of the Rohirrim.”All paper proposals must be submitted through the ICMS website no later than 15 September 2025. While proposals must be submitted through the website to be considered, please feel free to reach out to me with any questions about sponsored sessions, the proposal submission process, session delivery modes, and so on.
Cordially,
Jonathan Juilfs
Vice President, International Pearl-Poet Society
