Holy Cross Hosts Prestigious Association of Literary Scholars, Critics, and Writers Conference

The 24th Annual Conference of the Association of Literary Scholars, Critics, and Writers (ALSCW) was held at the College of the Holy Cross from October 3-6, 2019. Hosted by Lee Oser, professor of English, the three-day event featured 17 seminars; four plenary panels; poetry readings by famed poets A.E. Stallings, Major Jackson, David Ferry and Rachel Hadas; and a dinner featuring a string quartet composed by Matthew Pinder ’20, this year’s Fenwick Scholar. This year is the first time Holy Cross has been chosen to hold the noteworthy conference.

A number of Holy Cross faculty members were among the high-profile moderators and readers at the conference, including Sarah Stanbury, Distinguished Professor of Arts and Humanities in the English department; David Lewis Schaefer, professor of political science; Jorge Santos, assistant professor of English; Aaron Seider, associate professor of classics; Thomas Martin, professor of classics; Maurice Géracht, Stephen J. Prior Professor of Humanities in the English department; Susan Elizabeth Sweeney, Monsignor Murray Professor in Arts and Humanities in the English department; Oliver de la Paz, associate professor of English; and Leila Philip, professor of English.

Holy Cross alumni returned to campus to sit on panels, as well, including Traugott Lawler ’58, professor emeritus of English at Yale University; Dennis Taylor ’60, professor emeritus of English at Boston College; Will Hendel ’11; Chase Padusniak ’15; and Alex Pisano ’16. Eighty current Holy Cross students were also in attendance.