Call for Papers

What is the future of English Studies?
Who do we share our disciplines with and why?

English: Shared Futures is the UK’s largest conference for English studies, embracing creative writing, linguistics and literature. Based in York, the conference will bring together academics, authors, teachers, policy-makers, students and schoolchildren to celebrate the strengths of our disciplines now, tackle our shared challenges head on, and imagine a new future for the study of English from school to university and beyond.

Building on the success of two previous conferences, in Newcastle and Manchester, E:SF2025 is co-hosted by eight Yorkshire universities, and aims to explore the vibrancy of English Studies now, and what English Studies can do for generations to come.

We welcome proposals that relate to any area of English Studies, including creative writing, language, and literature.
Topics may include, but need not be limited to:

• new research from any area of our shared disciplines, including practice-led research;

• learning and teaching, from schools to universities and beyond;

• policy and practice. What policies do we need to ensure English Studies thrives? How can English Studies shape national, local and institutional policy?

• whose English? Whose future? How do we teach and study English in a time of climate crisis? What would an inclusive English studies look like? How do we decolonise our disciplines and practices?

• English with… Who does English Studies share its futures with and why? This can include other languages and literary traditions, other genres, forms, and media, journalism and publishing, other disciplines, and more;

• surviving English Studies: collective strategies for navigating academic life and teaching; combating precarity; rethinking practices and processes; and addressing the challenges of our shared disciplines and approaches.

In keeping with the ethos of Shared Futures, we welcome panels that prioritise marginalised and under-represented voices; bring together colleagues from language, literature and creative writing; unite colleagues from Higher and Further Education, schools, policy bodies and/or other institutions; reach across research, teaching and policy; and/or include student voices.

When: 3rd-5th July 2025

Where: York, UK