VI INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE AMERICAN LITERARY AND CULTURAL WEST: CFP HERE AND NOW!!

 

Dear Friends, believe it or not, four years have gone now and here we come back again. 

We are pleased to announce that time has come that we hold again our international conference on the American Literary and Cultural West. 

In REWEST Research Group we are confident that we will have our sixth edition next October 2026. 

And we'd better start getting it all ready. Here you have some information on what we are planning to do and how to get on board. Soon, you'll find more information right here, stuff on how to travel and stay, registration, program, keynote speakers... 

Now, we are sharing the call for papers and a summary of the most important and basic information: 

Title of the conference: VI INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE AMERICAN LITERARY AND CULTURAL WEST:  LOCAL/REGIONAL PERSPECTIVES AND GLOBAL IMAGININGS. 

Days: 5, 6 and 7 of October, 2026 

Place: Faculty of Arts, University of the Basque Country, Vitoria-Gasteiz

You will find more information on how to submit proposals in the call for papers. You can either read it here below or click on the link to download it: CFP.  

Do not hesitate to get in touch with us if you want to get more information or if you have doubts or comments. 

We have a new email address just for the conference: rewest2026@gmail.com. 

We would really enjoy having you here with us next October.

VI INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE AMERICAN LITERARY AND CULTURAL WEST Local/Regional Perspectives and Global Imaginings 

University of the Basque Country (EHU), Vitoria-Gasteiz (Spain) 

5–7 October 2026 

The VI International Conference on the American Literary and Cultural West, organized by the research group REWEST (Research in Western American Literature), aims to provide an updated, wide-ranging, and interdisciplinary forum for the study of the literature, culture, and artistic representations of the American West. Building on the legacy of previous editions, this conference seeks to reassess the West as a dynamic, mobile, and continually reimagined cultural space shaped by both local and regional experiences and global narratives, circulations, and imaginaries. Traditionally understood through a set of powerful myths and visual iconographies, the American West has long functioned as a site of national identity formation. However, contemporary critical approaches increasingly emphasize the West as a transnational, heterogeneous, and contested space, marked by migration, displacement, environmental crisis, technological change, and cultural hybridity. This sixth edition of the conference foregrounds the productive tension between localized perspectives—rooted in specific geographies, communities, and histories—and global imaginings that circulate across borders, media, and genres. The conference invites scholars to explore how literary and artistic texts negotiate the relationship between myth and material reality, between place-based narratives and global cultural flows. Particular attention will be given to interdisciplinary approaches that examine how Western narratives interact with other cultural forms and media, including film and television, theatre, music, photography, fashion, sports, visual and digital arts, video games, comics and graphic novels, animation, translation, podcast and online cultures. Speakers are also encouraged to address the specific cultural transplants and approaches resulting from European perspectives towards the American West, its images and culture. By doing so, the conference seeks to map the evolving contours of local and regional imaginings of the West and the geographical and cultural locales they stem from. Possible topics include (but are not limited to): 

● Reconfigurations of Old West myths in the 21st century 

● The West as an exceptional region as opposed to the West as an inherent part of American Culture 

● Local, regional, and global constructions of the American West 

● Mobility, nomadism, and rootedness in the West 

● Urbanization, technology, and digital cultures of the West 

● Western identities and landscape; ecological and environmental approaches 

● The Western space and the American self 

● Indigenous, minority, and marginalized Western voices 

● Migration, diaspora, and crossing the border 

● Voices of protest and narratives of dissent in the American West 

● Gender, sexuality, and the reimagining of Western identities 

● Animals and non-human others in the West 

● Ageist approaches in the West 

● The West in popular culture and mass-media 

● Transnational and comparative Westerns 

● Speculative fiction, and the Weird West 

● Music, soundscapes, and Western imaginaries 

● Photography, visual culture, and the American West 

● Comics, graphic novels, and alternative Western forms 

● The West in the web 

Papers should be designed for a 20-minute presentation. 

Although English will be the official language of the conference, papers in Spanish or Basque will also be accepted. 

The conference will be held at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of the Basque Country (EHU), in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. 

Submission guidelines: 

Please submit an abstract of 300 words along with a brief CV by May 24, 2026. 

Proposals should be sent by email to: rewest2026@gmail.com 

Please include the following heading in the subject line of your email: REWEST2026

IV International Symposium Cultural Transfers of the American West

New academic activity in REWEST! This one coming soon, next October. The title for the occasion is the following: IV International Symposium Cultural Transfers of the American West. Monday (October 6th) and Tuesday (October 7th) we will gather in Vitoria-Gasteiz, at the Faculty of Art, to keep talking about the American West. Several papers will be delivered, including the exciting contribution of our plenary speakers: writer Ana Merino, good scholar and old friend David Fenimore, John D. Sanderson from the University of Alicante and two musicians from the very popular band in the 1990s Dinamita pa'los Pollos, Roberto Mata and Javier Zaitegui. You can find more information in the link below:

Click here for more information: program. 

Or copypaste the following: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AxilfczcMRrGxG8dGaKX7LYtLuuYpBIM/view?usp=sharing

Basque Images in American Literature: Lectures on the Centennial of Robert Laxalt's Birth

 

 We are happy to announce that REWEST has a new event coming forward. In a few weeks, we will gather some of the most renowned experts on Basque-American literature in order to celebrate the centennial of Robert Laxalt's birth. It will happen at the Faculty of Arts of the University of the Basque Country in Vitoria-Gasteiz, coming this next october. You will find all the information here. 

Please, check here the program, and if you have any question do not hesitate to get in touch with us. 

 

 

Click on the image to have a better look at the textual information.

You can also find the program in PDF format by clicking here: program. 

V INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE AMERICAN LITERARY WEST: (Un)Charted and Nomadic West(s)

 

Dear all, we are just a few days away from the opening and it was about time to publish the final program. It has been already circulating by email but we want you to have the opportunity to check it online as well. 

Find here the program in snapshots and a link to download it from our google drive. However, bear in mind that you will be provided with a printed version when registering at the conference. 

Looking forward to meeting you all here. 

Final program in pdf version: click here. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

V INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE AMERICAN LITERARY WEST: (Un)Charted and Nomadic West(s)

The V International Conference on the American Literary West: (Un)Charted and Nomadic West(s) will take place in October 2022. From the 3th to the 5th of that month we would be delighted if you had a chance to come to Vitoria-Gasteiz and participate in our conference. For those of you who are presenting a paper or those of you who are planning to come, we want to give you some traveling tips so that you can start planning your trip.

In what follows, you will find information on how to get to Vitoria-Gasteiz and, if needed, where to stay. If you have any further inquiry, don't hesitate to ask. You can use our email address and get in touch with us, asking for help at amaia.ibarraran@ehu.eus, david.rio@ehu.eus and/or angel.chaparro@ehu.eus. Or just write your comment here. 

How to Get to Vitoria-Gasteiz

Vitoria-Gasteiz (Vitoria is the Spanish name, Gasteiz is in Basque) is the capital city of the autonomous community of the Basque Country in northeastern Spain. If you wish to know more about it you can visit any of the following links: wikipedia, the official website of the city council or the BasqueCountry tourist office website. 

Vitoria-Gasteiz has very good train connections. If you are a train traveling lover, you may want to check the RENFE website (national railway company) and see if train traveling is your best option to come to Vitoria-Gasteiz. If you choose to fly, you will need to use more than one means of transport because you can’t make it right to Vitoria-Gasteiz by plane. Vitoria-Gasteiz has its own airport but this is only use for freight transport at the moment. Update: very recently this airport has started again to schedule some flights (Seville, Bergamo, Cologne and Tenerife, you may want to check the following link: Vitoria-Gasteiz airport). 

However, there are other ways to make it to Vitoria-Gasteiz. You can go for any of the two following traveling plans if you are choosing this travel option (flying):

From Bilbao

If you are flying, probably, the best (meaning cheapest) way to get to Vitoria-Gasteiz is to fly to Bilbao International Airport. This is the nearest airport with international connections. If you are flying overseas then you’ll probably have to travel in two steps, via Paris, Frankfurt, Madrid or London. It is also worth mentioning that there are some low-fare companies operating to and from Bilbao (Easyjet, Air Berlin, Vueling…)

If you feel like coming right to Vitoria-Gasteiz after you landed in Bilbao, you’ll need to go first to Bilbao Intermodal, Bilbao’s main bus station. There, you’ll be able to catch a bus to Vitoria-Gasteiz. But before that, you need to come from Bilbao International Airport to the city center, which is about half an hour away from the airport. You can easily catch a shuttle bus from the one and only bus stop that you’ll find outside arrivals. The ticket is cheap and you pay directly at the bus (very recently they have opened a ticket booth close to the international exit at arrivals so maybe it is no longer necessary to pay directly at the bus). Buses come every 20-30 minutes and the ride only takes about 20-25 minutes. You have to stay on the bus until the last stop in Bilbao, which is that of Bilbao Intermodal. You can check the schedules here. The only other way to get from the Airport to Bilbao Intermodal would be to take a taxi (a bit faster, but much more expensive, around 20-30 euros). 

Once in Bilbao Intermodal, you can take a bus to Vitoria-Gasteiz. The company running these buses is called La Unión, and you can check the schedules here. Direct buses take around one hour and it will amount for about 6 euros. You have to buy your tickets at the La Unión ticket booth in Bilbao Intermodal. You can ask at the ticket booth for the buses running right to the university area. Not all of them have a stop at college. Otherwise, you will be dropped at the main station and you will have to take a taxi, an intercity bus, the tramway or a walk to your hotel, the downtown or our building. It would not be a bad idea to buy your bus ticket from Bilbao to Vitoria-Gasteiz on the internet beforehand. 

Tip: we wouldn’t recommend you to get a taxi from Bilbao to Vitoria-Gasteiz. Vitoria-Gasteiz is about sixty miles away from Bilbao and it would be very expensive to make that trip by taxi. Bus is cheap, quick, easy to get there and it gives you a chance to read or take a nap. 

From Madrid

Another option would be to fly to Madrid first. In that case, there are two options available for you:

1)        To arrive to Vitoria-Gasteiz by train. You need first to travel from the Adolfo Suarez International Airport (formerly known as Barajas) to Chamartín train station by metro. Take metro line 8 to Mar de Cristal and from there then take line 4 to Pinar de Chamartín first and then line 1 to Chamartín. Once in Chamartín Railway Station you can take a train to Vitoria-Gasteiz. There are around seven trains connecting Madrid and Vitoria-Gasteiz every day and prices range from 40 to 60 euros approximately. The trip takes around three to five hours. You can check schedules and prices here. And if you want to check the metro timetable, you can visit the following website: metro Madrid.

2)        To arrive to Vitoria-Gasteiz by bus. The company running the buses from Madrid to Vitoria-Gasteiz is called Alsa. You have a ticket office at Adolfo Suarez International Airport (Barajas) but these buses leaving from the airport run only from Madrid to Bilbao. You can buy a ticket to Vitoria-Gasteiz, but you’ll probably have to make a connecting stop in Bilbao. There are only a few buses making this trip from the airport to Bilbao and they won’t probably fit with your flying plans. If these is so, you’ll have to do the following:

If you want to travel directly to Vitoria-Gasteiz or you couldn’t make it on time to take one of the buses leaving from the airport, you need to go first to Madrid Bus Station in Avenida de América. There is a metro line from the Airport to Avenida de América. You need to take metro line number 8 to Colombia and then metro line 9 to Avenida de América. In any case, you can go to metro Madrid official website by using the link that I gave you before. And, of course, you can also take a taxi cab right to Avenida América. The trip from Madrid to Vitoria-Gasteiz takes around four hours and a half and the ticket is 27-30 euros approx. There are many buses every day and tickets can be bought at the bus station or online. 

Tip: if you choose this option (Madrid) please check the information on subway lines here because it may have changed. 

Once in Vitoria-Gasteiz

The V International Conference on the American Literary West will take place at the Faculty of Arts of the University of the Basque Country (check the website if you want to know more about us: Faculty of Arts). 

All distances (from train stations or from most of the hotels to the conference venue, also from the conference venue to the old town, the city center or shopping areas) are walking distance, sometimes, even in pedestrian ways. The new International Bus Station may be an exception, since it was built quite far away from the city center, but there are ways to go on public transport to the downtown. Check the website here: Vitoria's Bus Station. 

Vitoria-Gasteiz is a friendly city, well known for its many running lovers, an easy-to-bike city and it is appreciated and celebrated for its green areas and parklands (in 2012, the city was awarded the European Green Capital recognition). So get ready to make a lot of walking and forget about subways and taxi cabs. However, since 2008, the city enjoys a tramwaysystem that can be very useful if your hotel happens to be in a distant area. 

Where to Stay in Vitoria-Gasteiz

Vitoria-Gasteiz has a good range of lodging possibilities. In the following table, you’ll find a list of hotels, hotel ratings, the average room prices for an individual room (you better check this again before choosing one or the other), estimated distance to the conference venue and a link to the corresponding website so that you can book your room. Please, remember that we do not have any kind of agreement with any of these hotels and you are free to choose. Of course, our list here is not accurate or interested. You can check the whole list that Vitoria-Gasteiz City Council proposes to every tourist coming to visit the city here. 

Before we copy here the aforementioned list of hotels, please, remember that if you want to stay in Bilbao or Donostia-San Sebastián before or after the conference, you may want to check the official websites to get more information (you can do it here and here). We don’t recommend to stay in any of these two cities and then commute to the conference. That would mean about an hour from Bilbao and an hour and half from Donostia-San Sebastián every day. 

List of Hotels

In the following link you’ll find a map in which you can find all these hotels tagged and you can study distances and locations:  https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?mid=zMAQx3P_T8yk.kSAewPknHqbY

(copy this link if needed and paste it in your search bar. The title of the map is that of a previous conference but it can be still useful)

Just in case you have any trouble with the direct links we offered within the text, here you have a complete list of all the websites we have recommended to visit:

Vitoria-Gasteiz Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitoria-Gasteiz

Vitoria-Gasteiz City Council Official Website: http://www.vitoria-gasteiz.org/

Basque Country Tourism: http://tourism.euskadi.net/en/

RENFE: http://www.renfe.com/

Bilbao International Airport: http://www.aeropuertodebilbao.net/es/

Shuttle-Bus Bilbao Airport: http://www.aena-aeropuertos.es/csee/Satellite/Aeropuerto-Bilbao/es/Page/1237554477328/

Autobuses La Unión: http://www.autobuseslaunion.com/es/

Chamartín Railway Station:http://www.adif.es/en_US/infraestructuras/estaciones/17000/informacion_000295.shtml

Metro Madrid: http://www.metromadrid.es/es/index.html

ALSA Bus Company: http://www.alsa.es/en/

Avenida de América Bus: http://www.spain.info/es/informacion-practica/transportes/estaciones-autobus/madrid/estacion_de_autobuses_de_avenida_de_america.html

Faculty of Arts: http://www.ehu.es/en/web/letrak/home

Vitoria Tramway: http://www.euskotren.es/es/tranviavitoria

Bilbao: www.bilbao.net/

Donostia-San Sebastián: www.donostia.org/

List of hotels in pdf format: click here. 

If you need any further information, please feel free to make any comment in this entry and we will try to give you further guidance. 

REWEST

V INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE AMERICAN LITERARY WEST: (Un)Charted and Nomadic West(s)

 

This is a first, provisional program in which you can check your slots if you are presenting a paper and plan your attendance. There may be small changes and we have still some items to confirmed, but we will do all that in September. A more detailed program in the future will include full names, extra information on the speakers, titles, chairs, rooms... Meanwhile, feel free to make any questions you may have. 

You can find snapshots of the program in here or download the pdf version in the link below. 

We will update the information on how to travel or where to stay in September, sooner if we can, but if you have questions, do not hesitate to ask. In this same blog, you can find traveling information that we fashioned for previous events and it can be useful if you want to start organizing your trip now, just roll down and you will easily find those old posts. 

Again, any questions, do not hesitate to ask by sending an email to the usual addresses. 

We are looking forward to meeting you all in October. 

Download the PDF version by clicking on the next word: program. 

V INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE AMERICAN LITERARY WEST: (Un)Charted and Nomadic West(s)

 

 

Dear all, 

The registration for the V International Conference on the American Literary West: (Un)Charted and Nomadic West(s) is now open. 

You can find here a link (you can click on the word "registration" or copypaste the address, both of which you will find at the bottom of this text) to the registration form in a google drive sheet. All the bank information for the payment process is also in there. 

For clarification, we recommend the following steps:

1. Click on the link or copypaste the address on your browser and get access to the document on google drive. 

2. Read it carefully before you proceed to fill it in. 

3. See that you have different options for registration and that we also included the fee for the banquet, which is optional, of course. The banquet will take place on Wednesday, lunch time, in a fancy restaurant in the downtown. We will wait to see how many of you choose for this option to confirm the restaurant and give you more information, since depending on the number of people we may opt for one or another. Please, be sure, in any case, that we will have a vegan choice. 

3. When you are ready to start completing the information, instead of writing your information while on the google drive session, we recommend you to download the sheet in docx format onto your own computer and work on that saved copy. Then send us the docx copy by email. If you include information directly on google drive that will be probably registered and the next person on line will see your changes. 

4. As said above, send as a copy of the registration form (whether in docx or pdf format) to all the three emails or anyone of them. 

5. In that email, include also a receipt of your payment from your bank, please.  

We hope this is not complex and that you have no problem with the payment or the whole process in general. If you have doubts, don't hesitate to ask. 

Here you have the links to the registration form and information in the google drive sheet. Choose the option that you like the more:

 Link to registration

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Xv483l1aUWuE7F3-d_koV3Bm95hz1llA/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=116914450267727205655&rtpof=true&sd=true