SHARPweb

Annual Conference

Each year SHARP holds an annual conference that brings scholars together for stimulating discussions of an enormously wide range of issues related to the history of authorship, reading and publishing. Panels allow scholars to learn about the newest research in their fields, while keynotes bring the SHARP community together across interests and periods.

SHARP conferences are run locally, making each one unique not only in location but also in thematic content. Questions about individual conferences should be addressed to the organizers identified here or on that conference’s website.

Interested in hosting a future conference? Take a look at our conference manual and contact Rachel Noorda, Director of Conferences (conferences@ sharpweb.org)

2027 SHARP Conference

In 2027 SHARP is hosting its annual conference at the University of Pretoria on July 7–9th 2027.

Books in the Africa, and the Global South more broadly, are quite often seen as a foreign import. Indeed, the legacy of colonialism and neo-colonialism is still present, not least in the languages of publishing and the unequal access to resources and systems of value. However, there is a long-standing history of written culture and interactions with texts that complicates this centre-periphery dichotomy and challenges perceptions of booklessness. Given that this would be the first time the SHARP conference is held in the Global South, we would like to invite participants to explore and focus on ways of opening up and diversifying the field from a transnational perspective.

South Africa itself is a very diverse country, linguistically, culturally and socially. Historically, books and reading have been subject to stringent restrictions and highly stratified access in a closed and exclusionary system. Opening up the book has a special meaning in a post-apartheid, post-censorship context. Thus, the question of who is included or excluded in relation to books and knowledge is a key area of interest.

You can read the full call for papers here.

Future Conferences

We are actively seeking hosts for in-person and online conferences in 2029 and beyond. We’ve recently updated our conference manual to give potential and current organizers a sense of what is involved and what resources are available. Please feel free to read it and contact the Director of Conferences (conferences@ sharpweb.org) if you’re interested .

Travel Grants

Limited travel grants are available for students, independent scholars or other researchers lacking the necessary funding to travel to the conference location. Travel grants are awarded by the organizers of the individual conferences in collaboration with the treasurer.

Past Conferences