We are thrilled to welcome you to PAMLA 2026 this November 11-15 at the Hyatt Regency Seattle, in Seattle, WA! Beyond our rich lineup of panel sessions, this year’s conference is packed with inspiring keynotes, vibrant creative showcases, interactive workshops, and relaxing community spaces designed to connect, provoke, and inspire.
Below is your preview of the special events happening throughout the conference. Mark your schedules: you won’t want to miss these! And please do check to see if some of these events are on our PAMLA Registration portal, and sign up if you would like (so we can coordinate our numbers!).
Wednesday, November 11
Welcome Event: The Pop-Poetry Music Project
5:30–7:15 PM | 8th Floor Lounge | Free
Singer-songwriter Erica Cefalo and composer-pianist Billy Larkin show how poetry becomes song, then set attendees’ lyrics to music on the spot. Light refreshments provided.
Thursday, November 12
Keynotes featuring Jeffrey Gray and Marilyn Chin
11:35 AM | Elwha B (Gray) and Columbia A (Chin)
In “Meeting John Doe in Nanjing,” Jeffrey Gray (Seton Hall University) traces anti-intellectual populism from the Cultural Revolution to American politics today. In “Multicultural Rebellion, Intercultural Bliss,” Marilyn Chin (San Diego State University) reads classic and recent work in an annotated performance and takes questions from the audience.
Past-Presidential Address featuring Peter Schulman
4:45 PM | Columbia A
Peter Schulman (Old Dominion University) presents “Palimpsests of Melancholy: Paris, New York, Norfolk, and the Resistance to Speed.” He reads these three cities as palimpsests whose plaques and memorials keep past lives visible, and he argues that these hidden histories resist the speed and forgetting of modern life.
Friday, November 13
PAMLA Poetry Salon and a Spotlight with Sonora Jha
11:25 AM | Elwha B (Poetry Salon) and Columbia A (Jha)
At the Poetry Salon, Kevin Hearle, Michael Davidson, Paul Nelson, James McCorkle, and Kit Robinson read their work and talk about craft and form with chair Aldon Lynn Nielsen (Penn State). In “Privilege, Precarity, Power,” novelist and former Times of India journalist Sonora Jha (Seattle University) reads from Foreign (HarperVia, 2026). She then talks with Nalini Iyer (Seattle University), chief editor of South Asian Review, and takes questions from the audience.
Museum Visits: MOPOP ($15.50) or the Seattle Art Museum ($10)
11:30 AM–1:00 PM | Reserve and pay ahead
Explore either museum at your own pace with fellow attendees.
Keynotes with Rae Armantrout and with James Hynes & Sarah Levin-Richardson
3:00 PM | Columbia A (Armantrout) and Elwha B (Hynes & Levin-Richardson)
Pulitzer Prize–winning poet Rae Armantrout reads from Safe Rooms (Wesleyan, 2026), then talks with Jeanne Heuving (UW Bothell). In “Voices from the Shadows,” novelist James Hynes (Sparrow) and Sarah Levin-Richardson (UW Seattle) discuss how fiction and “critical fabulation” can give voice to enslaved people in ancient Rome.
Presidential Address featuring John Schwetman
6:00 PM | Columbia A
In “‘Everything I’ve Done in My Life, I’ve Done for My Children’: Succession and Class Satire in Gilded Age 2.0,” PAMLA President John Schwetman (University of Minnesota Duluth) reads HBO’s Succession alongside Edith Wharton and Shakespeare. He asks how concentrated wealth and media consolidation threaten democracy, and how literature can support or challenge political power.
Friday Night Grand Reception
7:00–9:00 PM | Columbia C/D & Foyer (3rd floor) | Free
Join colleagues right after the Presidential Address for complimentary hors d’oeuvres, a cash bar, and conversation.
Saturday, November 14
Plenary Address featuring Michael Bérubé
11:30 AM | Columbia A
In “A Post-Cultural Gilded Age,” Michael Bérubé (Penn State), a former president of the MLA, looks at how extreme wealth relates to cultural power today. The industrialists of the first Gilded Age sought legitimacy through museums and universities. Bérubé argues that today’s tech and finance elites show little interest in those goals, which ties his talk to this year’s theme, “Our Ruling Classes: Culture, Power, Conflict.”
Book Fair & Author Reception
12:40 PM | Columbia C/D
More than 30 PAMLA authors and editors show their new books, from monographs and edited collections to poetry and fiction. Drop by any time until 1:40 PM to meet the authors, buy books directly from them, and pick up signed copies.
Creative Showcases
5:10 PM | It Rains Comix in Seattle (Columbia A), Some Seattle Poets (Room 402), and Visualizing Dissent: WTO/99 (Elwha B)
In It Rains Comix in Seattle, Charles Hatfield and José Alaniz talk with local artists, publishers, and organizers about Seattle’s comics scene. In Some Seattle Poets, Rae Armantrout brings together readings by Amaranth Borsuk, Richard Chiem, Jeanne Heuving, Sarah Mangold, Robert Mittenthal, Prageeta Sharma, and Cedar Sigo. In Visualizing Dissent: WTO/99, director Ian Bell screens excerpts from his archival documentary on the 1999 WTO protests. He then discusses the film with Julia Reade, PAMLA Vice President Satoko Kakihara, and PAMLA President John Schwetman, followed by Q&A.
Open House & Reception at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery
7:00–9:00 PM | 1201 South Vale Street | Free; RSVP requested
Browse independent comix, see Short Run’s “Marathon” exhibition, hear curator Larry Reid, and catch Patrick McDonnell’s MUTTS book signing. Make your own way there from the Hyatt.
Sunday, November 15
Farewell Reception
12:30–1:30 PM | Columbia C/D (3rd floor) | Free
Celebrate the close of PAMLA 2026 with light refreshments, non-alcoholic drinks, and conversation, right after the General Membership Meeting.
Museum Visits: MOPOP ($15.50) or the Seattle Art Museum ($10)
1:30–3:30 PM | Reserve and pay ahead
A second chance to visit either museum before you head home.
Throughout the Conference
Caucus Meetings | Free
Sign up so the moderators know who’s coming.
PAMLA Book Exhibit
Thursday 12:00–5:00 PM; Friday 9:00 AM–4:00 PM; Saturday 9:00 AM–4:30 PM; Sunday 9:00 AM–12:00 PM | Columbia Prefunction Space (3rd floor)
Browse and buy books, and meet representatives from PM Press, The Scholar’s Choice, Broadview Press, De Gruyter Brill, Fonograf Editions, and English Honor Societies. On Saturday, visit the Book Fair & Author Reception in Columbia C/D, also on the 3rd floor, where PAMLA authors sell and sign their new books.
How to Register & Sign Up for Special Events
While many special events are open to all registered attendees, certain events, excursions, and add-ons require advance signup or reservations.
To sign up for these events online:
- Log into your account at pamla.ballastacademic.com
- Click on the Registration / Membership tab in the top navigation menu.
- Scroll down through the registration options to locate and select the special events, luncheons, or excursions you wish to attend
- Complete your checkout to confirm your reservations.