LITERATURE FOR PEACE: NARRATIVES OF CO-EXISTENCE

Conference Call

2026 MELOW International Conference to be held at the

Veer Narmad South Gujarat University, Surat

20-22 November 2026

THEME - LITERATURE FOR PEACE: NARRATIVES OF CO-EXISTENCE

In 1827, Goethe famously proclaimed that World literature can promote better international understanding, serve as a link between national literatures, and facilitate the exchange of ideal values. It can be an “intellectual barter system”. Around the same time, Shelley believed that poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world. And about a century later, on Sept 1, 1939, WH Auden spoke of the poet’s voice that can undo the folded lie of the man in the street and the powers that be. The question that arises is – does literature have the power to make a difference? Can it provide peace and happiness for a world in pain? In an age marked by violence and fragmentation, we are compelled to ask what writers – poets, philosophers, thinkers – can do to counter the tides of hatred and suspicion, and restore a measure of balance to human civilization. At the same time, we in India wonder what happened to the ahimsa that the father of our nation wished to promote in the world?

At a moment when the world urgently needs to pause and reflect on its unceasing fractures, the 28^th MELOW International Conference proposes to examine the role of literature in fostering peace and coexistence.

The conference will be held at Veer Narmad South Gujarat University, Surat. Gujarat, being the home of Mahatma Gandhi and his philosophy of ahimsa, offers a fitting context for such deliberations. Surat, too, is not only a mercantile cosmopolitan city but also one historically influenced by many cultures; it promises to be a meaningful backdrop for dialogue across differences.

Bringing together like-minded scholars and thinkers from different backgrounds, the annual MELOW 2026 conference aims to explore the various dimensions of peace as imagined in literature. Peace is not a simplistic or ideal state; it emerges through tensions, compassion, contradictions, and dedicated human endeavour.

The suggested thematic strands include:

1. From conflict to peace: How literature translates violence into empathy

2. Interreligious harmony and pluralism in literature: Gandhi, Tagore, Nanak, Kabir, Amir Khusro, and beyond

3. Women’s writing for peace: Maternal voices, domestic spaces, caregiving

4. Ecologies of Peace: The bond between nature and human life

5. Building peace through humour: Satire, comic inversions, clowning as a means of dissolving aggression

6. Building peace through children’s literature: Teaching compassion and tolerance through storytelling

Abstracts (200-250 words) are invited on any of these sub-themes.

Keep in mind: (i) our mandate is World Literature. (ii) Abstracts will be checked for plagiarism and AI-Generated content.

Important Dates

Deadline for abstracts: 1 July 2026

Acceptance letters to be sent by 1 August 2026

Delegate fee to be submitted by 15 August 2026

Full papers (those competing for the ISM Award): 1 October 2026

Full papers (those who wish to publish in MEJO): 1 November 2026

Final program to be ready by 10 November 2026

Conference Dates: 20-22 November 2026

MODE OF ABSTRACT SUBMISSION

Please fill out this Google form as directed:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1DGOwRppEcz7CedQeMVUC-yFwVEM1cVkcTF1sjR25eEk/edit?ts=69e20a0b

NOTE

Presenters need to be at least postgraduate research scholars, teachers, or independent scholars.

All abstracts will be peer-reviewed before they are accepted.

This is an in-person conference. Online sessions may be considered for delegates from outside India.

All paper presenters need to be members of MELOW. If you are not a member, you may send your abstract now and apply for membership once it is accepted.

Details of membership/registration fees will be sent along with the acceptance letter.

ISAAC SEQUEIRA MEMORIAL AWARD

In memory of the late Prof Isaac Sequeira, MELOW annually awards a prize for the best paper presented by a young scholar (below forty at the time of the conference). The award comprises a certificate and a cash prize of Rs. 5,000. The competition is open to Indian citizens who are members of MELOW. The abstract and paper should be submitted by the stipulated deadline in the required format. Joint entries are not eligible for the ISM Award.

For further inquiries, please email: melusmelow@gmail.com

Our website: www.melow.in

HOST INSTITUTION

VEER NARMAD SOUTH GUJARAT UNIVERSITY

Originally established under the South Gujarat University Act, 1965 passed by the Gujarat State Legislative Assembly, the university became functional from the academic year of 1966. Recognized by the University Grants Commission in 1968, it was renamed Veer Narmad South Gujarat University in 2004 after the great Gujarati poet Narmad, Narmadshankar Lalshankar Dave. The mandate of the University is to meet the developmental needs of the seven districts and two Union Territories in the region and to realise their potential in every walk of life, ranging from technology, business, industry, and commerce to language, culture, and fine arts.

The Department of English at VNSGU, established in June 1970, offers postgraduate (M.A.) and doctoral (PhD) programmes with core courses such as the history of English literature, Women’s Writing in English, Indian Writing in English, literary criticism and theory, and world literature in translation, along with multidisciplinary offerings like Novel and Psychology and Novel and History. Electives include New Writings in English, American Literature, English Language Teaching (ELT), and Indian Literature in English Translation.

The Department, which comprises six faculty members—four Professors, one Associate Professor, and one Assistant Professor—has guided numerous M.Phil. and Ph.D. scholars across diverse fields, including British, American, and Afro-American literature, Indian Writing in English, comparative literature, ELT, translation studies, postcolonial studies, gender studies, children’s literature, and other emerging interdisciplinary areas.

https://www.vnsgu.ac.in/departments/english/documents/Prospectus%202025-26.pdf

LOCAL ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

Dr. K. N. Chavda, Hon’ble VC (Patron)
Dr. R. C. Gadhvi, Registrar (Co-Patron)
Dr. Mahesh Kumar Dey, Professor and Head (Co-ordinator)
Dr. Amit Prajapati, Dr. Paresh Joshi, Dr. Sunil Shah, Dr. Rekha Parmar and Dr. Mihir Mori (Organizing Team)
Dr. Sanjay Mukherjee (Representative, Gujarat Region)
Dr. Radha Gautam, Associate Professor
Contact Nos: 0261-2203144, 0261-2203145 (O) and 9427580490/ 7069251581 (M)
Email: office.den@vnsgu.ac.in & mpdey@vnsgu.ac.in

ABOUT MELOW

MELOW (The Society for the Study of the Multi-Ethnic Literatures of the World) was first set up in 1997 as MELUS-India. It is an academic organization, among the foremost of its kind in India. The members are college and university teachers, scholars and critics interested in literature, particularly in world literatures, and literary connections across borders of time and space. The organization meets every year over an international conference. It seeks to maintain academic standards, encourages younger scholars, and provides a forum for a fruitful exchange between upcoming and senior scholars in literature.

MEJO, The MELOW journal has existed in hard print for more than a decade. It is now published annually online.

Current Office Bearers of MELOW

The Governing Body

President: Manju Jaidka, former Prof of English, Panjab University, Chandigarh
Vice-President: Debarati Bandyopadhyay, Prof, Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan, WB
Secretary: Manpreet Kaur Kang, Prof, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi
Jt. Secretary: Roshan Lal Sharma, Prof, C.U. of Himachal Pradesh, Dharamshala
Treasurer: Hem Raj Bansal, Assoc, Prof., CUHP, Dharamshala

Regional Representatives