MLA Sessions organized by the John Clare Society of North America since 2000

The John Clare Society of North America organizes an annual session at the Modern Language Association Convention.

Past Sessions Organized by the John Clare Society of North America at the MLA Convention:

2025 (New Orleans)

John Clare and Change

Presiding: James McKusick, University of Missouri, Kansas City

1. "Unreturning Seasons: The Lyric Present after Habitat Loss," Cassandra Falke, UiT The Arctic University of Norway

2. "Settled Science and 'Unsettled Homes': On John Clare's Swallows," Olivia Rosane, Independent Scholar

3. "How Should We Edit John Clare? Copyright, the Politics of Language, and Textual Criticism," Simon Kovesi, University of Glasgow

2024 (Philadelphia)

John Clare: Shifting Critical Approaches

Presiding: Erica McAlpine, St. Edmund Hall, University of Oxford

1. "John Clare: Influence Beyond Anxiety," Jacob Risinger, Ohio State University

2. "Repetition and Clare's Lyric of Withdrawn Revelation: A Twist on Allegorical Doublespeak," Elena Rotzokou, Columbia University

3. "'Weaves of Homely Stuff': John Clare's Nest Sonnets and Formal Ecologies," Diana Little, Princeton University

2023 (San Francisco)

John Clare: Now and Then

Presiding: James McKusick, University of Missouri, Kansas City

1. "Rewilding with John Clare," Tobias Menely, University of California, Davis

2. "Hedging Against Enclosure: Clare's Hesitations," Brian McGath, Clemson University

3. "Clare Among the Ruins," Karen Swanson, Williams College

2022 (Washington, D.C.)

John Clare and Extravagance

Presiding: Erica McAlpine, St. Edmund Hall, University of Oxford

1. "'A Weed in Nature's Poesy': Rewriting the Georgic Progress Poem in John Clare's 'Progress of Rhyme,'" John Rooney, Ohio State University, Columbus

2. "'The Reasoning Jargon of Unreasoning Fools': John Clare and Sensus Communis," Moinak Choudhury, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

3. "Clare's Vagabond Vision," Brian Milthorpe, University of Wisconsin, Madison

2021 (Toronto)

Some Environmental Approaches to John Clare

Presiding: James McKusick, University of Missouri, Kansas City

1. "Clare, Habitat, and Burke," Effie Gianitsos, Syracuse University

2. "John Clare's 'Lament of Swordy Well' as Wasteland," Lauren Cooper, Syracuse University

3. "John Clare in Neon: Environmental Crisis and the Poetics of the Field," Jayme Collins, Northwestern University

2020 (Seattle)

John Clare: Conversations in Song

Presiding: Erica McAlpine, St. Edmund Hall, University of Oxford

1. "'The air hummed melodies around': Clare, Personification, and the Conversation Poem," Elizabeth Helsinger, University of Chicago

2. "'Sounds that Cannot be Written': Animal Communication in John Clare and Gilbert White," Jeffrey Dories, University of Pittsburgh at Titusville

3. "Vocality and Printedness in Clare Poems Called 'Song' and 'Ballad,'" Stephanie Kuduk Weiner, Wesleyan University

2019 (Chicago)

John Clare and Science

Presiding: Nancy M. Derbyshire, Borough of Manhattan Community College, City University of New York

1. "John Clare's Local Botany," Eliza Holmes, Harvard University

2. "Toward a Scientific Aesthetic: John Clare's 'Man of Science and of Taste,'" Richard Ness, University of Wisconsin, Madison

3. "'Bits of Lichen and a Sprig of Moss': Clare's Linnaean Encounters," Christy Edwall, New College, University of Oxford

2018 (New York)

John Clare: Encounters

Presiding: Erica McAlpine, St. Edmund Hall, University of Oxford

1. "'The Invitation: Periodical Border Wars and the Poetics of Encounter," Marie-Christine Hyland, New York University

2. "'Like a Ruin of the Past All Alone': Encountering History in John Clare's Remembrances," Timothy Heimlich, University of California, Berkeley

3. "'Thou Lowly Cot': Rudimentary Architecture in John Clare and Robert Frost," Marissa Grunes, Harvard University

2017 (Philadelphia)

John Clare: The One and the Many

Presiding: Erica McAlpine, Keble College, University of Oxford

1. "Exemplary Figures in Clare's Descriptive Poems," Stephanie Kuduk Weiner, Wesleyan University

2. "Invasive Natives and Abject Objects: John Clare and the Rhetoric of Division," Richard Ness, University of Wisconsin-Madison

3. "Human Love and Nonhuman Life in John Clare," Chris Washington, Francis Marion University

2016 (Austin, Texas)

After John Clare

Presiding: Bruce Edward Graver, Providence College

1. "Clare's Lyric Events," Alan Douglas Vardy, Hunter College, City University of New York

2. "Clare's Lyrics as Ecosystem Models," Heidi Scott, Florida International University

3. "Impersonal yet Intimate: John Clare and the Early Nature Poems of Seamus Heaney," Florian Gargaillo, Boston University

2015 (Vancouver)

John Clare: Vanishings

Presiding: Erica McAlpine, Keble College, University of Oxford

1. "John Clare: Lost Poet of No Place," Simon Kovesi, Oxford Brookes University

2. "Clare's Poetics of Love and the Vanishing of Subjectivity," Seth Reno, Auburn University at Montgomery

3. "The Itinerant 'I': John Clare's Lyric Defiance," Michael Nicholson, University of California, Los Angeles

2014 (Chicago)

John Clare: The Voices of Nature

Presiding: Emma Trehane, Bournemouth, U.K.

1. "Speaking for the Trees: Margaret Cavendish, John Clare, and Voicing Nature," Bridget Keegan, Creighton University

2. "Clare's Air: Sound in Motion," Paul Chirico, Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge University

3. "John Clare: The Unusual and Challenging Natural Historian," Eric Robinson, Falls Church, Virginia

2013 (Boston)

John Clare: Nature and the Self

Presiding: Samantha Harvey, Boise State University

1. "From Wild Badgers to Human Beasts: John Clare and the Question of Nonhuman Nature," Ashton Nichols, Dickinson College

2. "Can the Subaltern Soil Speak? Should English Trees Have Standing?: John Clare and the Case of Swordy Well," Judith Plotz, George Washington University

3. "John Clare, Ecological Abstraction, and the Abstraction of the Self," Scott Hess, Earlham College

2012 (Seattle)

John Clare: Writing, Identity and Culture

Presiding: Matthew Russell, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

1. "Mediating Loss: John Clare and Poetic Form," Toby R. Benis, Saint Louis University

2. "Decompositions: Decay and Forgetting in Charlotte Smith and John Clare," Matthew Russell, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

3. "Lodging in the Wilderness: Cowper and Clare in Retreat," Tim Fulford, Nottingham Trent University=

2011 (Los Angeles)

John Clare and the Classroom

Presiding: Joshua Kryah, University of Nevada, Las Vegas

1. "Clare's 'Don Juan' and the Art of Politics," Jason N. Goldsmith, Butler University

2. "John Clare Looks Good in a Dishdash: Linking Clare to Middle Eastern Poetry," Marielle R. Risse, Dhofar University

3. "Placing John Clare," Duygu Kilic, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale

2009 (Philadephia)

John Clare and the Long Nineteenth Century

Presiding: Stephanie Kuduk Weiner, Wesleyan University

1. "'I'll Be Bound': Clare's Don Juan, Literary Annuals, and the Commodification of Authorship," Lindsey Eckert, University of Toronto

2. "John Clare's Unromantic Landscape Poems," Adam White, University of Manchester

3. "The World of Clare's Mind: Martin and Cherry's Presentations of the Asylum Poems," Stephanie Kuduk Weiner, Wesleyan University

2008 (San Francisco)

Clare and His Circle

Presiding: Katey Castellano, James Madison University

1. "Clare and Hone," Mina Gorji, University of Cambridge

2. "The Letters of Eliza Louisa Emmerson to John Clare," Emma Trehane, Nottingham Trent University

3. "Clare, Preservation, and Pessimism," Katey Castellano, James Madison University

2007 (Chicago)

John Clare in History

Presiding: Theresa Adams, Westminster College

1. "John Clare and Popular Antiquarian History," Theresa Adams, Westminster College

2. "'Shadows of Taste': Clare's Man of Taste as Natural and Literary Historian," Sarah Weiger, Cornell University

3. "Clare, Dorothy Wordsworth, and the Arboreal," Kenneth Cervelli, Austin Peay University

2006 (Philadelphia)

John Clare: Pastoral and Performance

Presiding: David Worrall, Nottingham Trent University, U.K.

1. "Minoritarian Rhizomes: John Clare and the Eco-Linguistics of Nature," Simon Kovesi, Oxford Brookes University, U.K.

2. "Fluidity in the Poetic Identity of John Clare," Kurtis Hessel, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale

3. "John Clare's Stamford: Types of Theatricality in a Georgian Market Town," David Worrall, Nottingham Trent University, U.K.

2005 (Washington, D.C.)

Twenty-First Century Clare

Presiding: Timothy Eugene Ziegenhagen, Northland College

1. "One Hundred Songs: Clare's Melodies in the Marketplace," Sam Ward, Nottingham Trent University

2. "New Light on Clare's Prose," Eric H. Robinson, Falls Church, Virginia

3. "Sites of Resistance in Clare's Early Verse," Jeff Schragel, Indiana University of Pennsylvania

2004 (Philadelphia)

New Perspectives on Clare and Nature: Ecology, Aesthetics, Natural History

Presiding: Timothy Eugene Ziegenhagen, Northland College

1. "Art 'Mars the Truth of Taste': Clare, Wordsworth, and Ecoaesthetics," Eric Odegaard, University of California, Riverside

2. "'Botanising': Clare and Classification," Alan Douglas Vardy, Hunter College, City University of New York

3. "'Homeless at Home': Commonplaces in Wordsworth and Clare," Misty A. Beck, Washington University

2003 (San Diego)

The Borderlands of John Clare

Presiding: Timothy Eugene Ziegenhagen, Northland College

1. "Burns, Clare, and Poetry's Hidden Subject," Carol McGuirk, Florida Atlantic University

2. "'Excursion with the Angler': Clare's Piscatory Poetry," Bridget Mary Keegan, Creighton University

3. "Invite to Alterity: Mimicry and Hybridity in Clare's Later Poems," Gary Harrison, University of New Mexico

2002 (New York)

Clare and Some Varieties of Laboring-Class Poetics

Presiding: Misty Ann Beck, Washington University

1. "Clare and Plebeian Pedestrians: Pilgrimages and Fantasies of Transformation," Tim Burke, St. Mary's University College

2. "The Progging John Clare," Timothy Eugene Ziegenhagen, Northland College

3. "Luddite Poetics," Kevin Binfield, Murray State University

2001 (New Orleans)

Bloomfield and Clare: Romanticism, Influence, and Material Culture

Presiding: W. John Coletta, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point

1. "Bloomfield in America," Bruce Graver, Providence College

2. "Female Storytellers in Bloomfield and Clare," John Goodridge, Nottingham Trent University

3. "'A Strange Instrinsic Beauty': Enclosure and John Clare's Power of Vision," Misty Ann Beck, Washington University

2000 (Washington, D.C.)

Expanding the Clare Canon

Presiding: James McKusick, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

1. "Clare's 'April-fooling' in the Northborough Period," Eric Robinson, University of Massachusetts-Boston

2. "A Life Outside: Clare's Molecatcher," Sara Lodge, University College, Oxford

3. "Songs in Common(s): Semiotics of Community in John Clare's Lesser-Known Narratives," John Coletta, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point

1999 (Chicago)

John Clare and Working-Class Literary Culture

A special session; session leader: Scott J. McEathron, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale

"'Obnoxious Performance': The Plebiean Culture of Theatre, Street, and Stage in Romantic Period Melodrama," David Worrall, Saint Mary's University College
"Patronage and Political Crisis: Clare and Mrs. March," Alan Douglas Vardy, University of Saint Andrews
"The Voice of Robert Bloomfield's Ballads," Simon White, University of York

Respondent: Marilyn S. Gaull, Temple University

1998 (San Francisco)

Reading John Clare

A special session; session leader: Scott J. McEathron, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale

"Boys, Marvelous Boys: John Clare, Youth, and Genius," Bridget Mary Keegan, Creighton University
"John Clare and the Culture of the Poor," Robert M. Maniquis, University of California, Los Angeles
"'O Poesy Thy Unexhausted Powers': The Aesthetic Liberation of Clare's Later Poetry," Simon Kovesi, Nottingham Trent University

1997 (Toronto)

John Clare and Tradition

A special session; session leader: Scott J. McEathron, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale

"Telling Stories: Clare, Folk Culture, and Narrative Techniques," John Goodridge, Nottingham Trent University
"Clare and the Gypsies," Anne F. Janowitz, University of Warwick
"John Clare and the Sonnet Tradition," Isaac Cates, Yale University

Respondent: James McKusick, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

1996 (Washington, D.C.)

New Directions in Clare Studies

A special session; session leader: Bridget Keegan, Creighton University

"Clare's Sameness," Zachary Leader, Roehampton Institute
"John Clare, Working-Class Natural History, and the Social Geography of Birds," Alan Bewell, University of Toronto, Saint George Campus
"John Clare's Poetics and the Politics of Loss," Sarah M. Zimmerman, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Respondent: Eric Robinson, University of Massachusetts, Boston

1995 (Chicago)

John Clare in Literary and Social History

A special session; session leader: Bridget Keegan, Samford University, and Sarah M. Zimmerman, University of Wisconsin, Madison

"Is a Return to History a Return to Clare?" David Simpson, University of Colorado, Boulder
"'Old common sense could chant a stave': John Clare's Politics," P.M.S. Dawson, University of Manchester
"Romantic Ecotopia: John Clare and the Claims of Nature," Gary Harrison, University of New Mexico
"The Aesthetic Construction of John Clare's 'Minorness,'" Alan Vardy, Simon Fraser University

1994 (San Diego)

John Clare and the History of Nature

A special session; session leader: James McKusick, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

"The Rights of Nature," Jonathan Bate, University of Liverpool
"Clare, White, the Poets, and Genesis: Class, Occupation, and the Modalities of Mediation," Stuart Peterfreund, Northeastern University
"'The Heedless Beetle Bangs': John Clare and This World," L. J. Swingle, University of Kentucky, Lexington
"Ballads, Broadsides, and Books: The Landscape of Cultural Literacy in The Village Minstrel," Bridget Keegan, Samford University

1993 (Toronto)

New Approaches to John Clare

A special session; session leader: James McKusick, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

"The Complexity of Clare," Kelsey Thornton, University of Birmingham
"Clare: The Poet of Popular Culture," Eric Robinson, University of Massachusetts, Boston
"Clare's Irish Ventriloquism," Paul Dawson, University of Manchester
"Clare's Struggle for Poetic Identity," William Brewer, Appalachian State University