Call for conference papers ‘Attentive Writers’: Healthcare, Authorship, and Authority

The Medical Humanities Research Centre at the University of Glasgow is organising a conference on the theme of ‘Attentive Writers’: Healthcare, Authorship, and Authority from the 23-25 August 2013. Abstracts on this theme are sought from academics, clinicians, creative writers, non-clinical healthcare workers, caregivers, and interested laypersons. The deadline for submissions is 4 March 2013.

From nurses, physicians and surgeons to administrators, caregivers, physiotherapists, technicians, veterinarians and voluntary sector workers, the conference adopts the term ‘attentive writers’ as evocative of the multitude of both non-professional and professional caregivers – clinical and non-clinical healthcare workers – whose attention to illness might take narrative form.

The relationship between healthcare, authorship and authority will be addressed through three inter-related strands  of thematic enquiry: (1) an historical and literary examination of ‘attentive writers’; (2) a more devolved interrogation of the field of Narrative Medicine; and (3) an examination of ‘attentive writing’ as creative practice.

Papers might address, but are not limited to, the following topics:

• Nurse-writers, physician-writers, surgeon-writers, veterinarian-writers, etc. of any culture, historical period or literary epoch, and/or nurses, physicians, surgeons, and vets as literary subjects
• Non-clinical healthcare workers (adminstrators, janitors, technicians, etc.) as writers and/or literary subjects
• The literature of caregiving
• Gender and medical authority
• Historical development of medical and literary professionalism
• The afterlife of Foucault’s ‘medical gaze’
• Hybrid discourses and genres (the case history, illness narratives, etc.)
• Narrative Medicine (and, particularly, does it challenge or reinforce the notion of physician as sole author/authority) and related developments in professionalism and education
• The philosophy of attentiveness in healthcare and creative writing
• ‘Attentive writing’ as creative practice; including ‘process oriented’ writing practices and those primarily concerned with the creation of aesthetically valuable outcomes.

Abstracts of up to 500 words should be submitted, along with a short biography (no more than 250 words), to  arts-attentivewriters@glasgow.ac.uk by 4 March 2013. Further information for creative writers wishing to make a submission will be announced shortly.

For further guidelines please see http://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/critical/research/conferences/attentivewriters/