Since the organisers want this to be shared, that's what I'm doing!
Romance Area
Conference of the Popular Culture Association (PCA/ACA)
March 24-27, 2027 – Boston, Massachusetts
“Only in a Romance Novel”
Some things only work in a romance novel.
The worlds of romance are filled with places, situations, people, careers, and even names we would reject as unrealistic in any other situation. From the overabundance of women with flowing red locks, men named “Cash,” women with tiny delicate waists, hot single hockey players, nannies working for amazing single dads, or stalkers with a heart of gold, some things seem over represented in romance novels.
For the 2027 conference, let’s take some time to explore these topics, what we love and hate about them; how they interact with the genre, subgenres, and tropes; and what they say about the state of the genre and society.
In particular, we pose these questions:
1) what are these overrepresentations? What careers, places, characteristics seem to come up over and over again?
2) where do these overrepresentations come from?
3) in the moments they do, why and how do authors push against these representations?
We encourage you to respond to these questions broadly, and to think not just about specific texts but also about their creators, consumers and critics, to understand the broader discussions in which these texts are implicated.
If this theme does not spark ideas, something else is pressing on your mind, or you simply want to pursue another intellectual passion, you are very welcome to do so.
Who we are
The Romance Area of the PCA is deeply interested in popular romance both within and outside of mainstream popular culture, now or in the past, anywhere in the world. Scholars, romance writers, romance readers/viewers, romance industry professionals, librarians, and any combination of these are welcome. You do not need to be an academic or have an institutional affiliation to be part of the Romance area. Undergraduates sponsored by an academic mentor are also welcome. Please see the Romance area on the PCA website for our policy for undergraduates; if the website is difficult to navigate, contact us and we’ll send you a copy of the policy.
The Romance area invites any theoretical or (inter)disciplinary approach to any topic related to romance. Past presenters have drawn on methods from literary studies, history, library sciences, sociology, film studies, and creative writing, to name the most common approaches—we’ve even had a presentation with puppets (you know who you are). We’ve loved all of these.
Finally, we are not interested solely in novels! The Romance area is open to engagements with all forms of media and culture that are concerned with romance, including, but not limited to, the following: art; literature; philosophy; radio and audio media; film and television; comics and graphic novels; videos, webzines and other online storytelling; and apps, including dating apps.
Submit 250-word abstracts to pcaaca.org by October 31, 2026. One of us will review them within two weeks or so and notify you about our decision. You’ll hear more from us as the date approaches.
Please feel free to forward, cross-post, or link to this call for papers.
If you have any questions at all, please contact the area chairs:
Justina Clayburn - jumarn@gmail.com
(Co-chair coming soon)
