FUSE Conference Archives

2020: Digital Colloquium

The FUSE conference held its first digital colloquium on November 3, 2021. Visit the FUSE BOX, Volume IV, for details! 

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2019: Widener University

The FUSE conference returns to Widener University! It will take place over three days—November 7, 8, 9—and feature a story-slam keynote presentation and workshop, student and faculty panel presentations and discussions, a journal showcase, an open mic, and even a few “unconference” sessions that will give attendees a chance to set part of the agenda for the conference when they arrive.

Call for Proposals

Registration

Conference Booklet

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2018: Susquehanna University

The publishing and editing industry has always been competitive and fast-paced. In an age of political disparity, mass digitalization, and hyper-information, resilience is a crucial trait for success. As the world changes, so do the obstacles of publishing and editing professionals. We would like to know what challenges our members have faced in their publishing and editing endeavors, and together, we would like to explore solutions.

The FUSE conference will be held at Susquehanna University on November 1, 2, and 3. Notable sessions include a book reading and signing by poet and activist Martin Espada, open mic night, and writing and editing workshops.

Call for Proposals

Registration

Conference Booklet

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2017: Cabrini University

In these trying political times, it is even more important to understand the capacity of the literary arts to evoke social change, depict the experiences of underrepresented populations, and protest injustices.  It is our hope that the sessions in this year’s conference will be more interactive, ultimately allowing FUSE to pull together a mini-publication that models how disparate voices and experiences can be encouraged and captured by literary magazines.

The FUSE conference will be held at Cabrini University on November 2, 3, and 4. Notable sessions include a book reading and signing by poet and activist Martin Espada, open mic night, and writing and editing workshops.

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2016: Bowling Green State University

The Prairie Margins staff is proud to announce that this year, the FUSE Conference will be held at Bowling Green State University!

FUSE will be held from Thursday, November 3rd until Saturday the 5th at BGSU. Anyone who attends is also welcome to join us for Winter Wheat: The Mid-American Review Festival of Writing. The deadline to register to attend FUSE is Wednesday, October 19th.

This year, we’re calling for proposals about Literary Citizenship. Proposals must be no more than 150 words and must be submitted by Wednesday, September 21st.

Please see this document to get more information about proposals and FUSE:

FUSE 2016 CALL

Please see this document to get information about how to register:

FUSE 2016 REGISTRATION FORM

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2015: Widener University

Without question, we live in an age of distraction. Texts and tweets, Facebook updates and Snapchat posts. At any given moment, a thousand things seem to vie for our attention. As undergraduate editors, how do we command attention for the work we devote so much time and energy to producing? The theme for this year’s conference—“Will You Look at That?: Aesthetics and the World of Undergraduate Publications”—will address this and other related questions.

The FUSE conference at Widener will take place over three days—November 5, 6 and 7—and feature speakers, student and faculty panel presentations and discussions, a journal showcase, an open mic event, and even a little bit of literary rock-n-roll. On Saturday morning, there will be an optional half-day excursion to the nearby Brandywine Art Museum, which features the work of the Wyeth family of artists.

Widener is able to accommodate about 100 participants for FUSE 2015. Since we’d like to have the broadest possible participation, we will limit registration to five representatives from each institution, at the outset. We’ll keep a waiting list and reassess as we get closer to the registration deadline.

Conference Booklet

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2014: Bennington College

The FUSE conference in Bennington took place over two days—November 6 and 7—and featured speakers, student and faculty panel presentations and discussions, two skills sessions, a journal showcase, and open mic night. An optional half-day excursion was planned on Friday afternoon to the nearby Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts, renowned for its French Impressionist collection—a jewel of a museum.

As prologue to 2014’s conference, we invited everyone to consider FUSE—this congregation of student editors and faculty mentors—through a larger lens. With the increasing publication of undergraduate literary journals , we saw that communities of writers and editors were eager for more inter-connectedness and wider readership. The FUSE Conference focused its efforts on how to help make that happen—and will continue to do so. But with the 2014 conference, we also wanted to open an inquiry that may deepen and expand these aims.

What’s the big idea? That’s what we wanted to ask ourselves. That is, if we form these connections, and if we increase visibility and readership, what might we make of that, in a larger sense? Here’s one example: a Bennington student who edits the plain chinaanthology was in Tunisia for spring term to investigate the effects of the Arab Spring. As a result of her work with the anthology, she wanted to investigate international publications that focus on sharing individual perspectives between groups that may be in conflict, with particular interest in the Middle East. She proposed a presentation for FUSE 2014. Another proposal came from a student at the University of Pennsylvania who started The Adroit Journal, which has student editors from around the world and contributors ranging from high school students to established writers.

So: We thought about ideas that break boundaries, that perhaps raise the question, Do these collections of young voices matter? And if so, how?

We hope the conference became a call for lit journals across the country to connect actions to aims. Aims: wider readership, more heft. Actions: think bigger: read each other’s journals; actively curate, communicate, collaborate. Consider the building of a community that will not only showcase the best work of young writers across the country—journals without borders, say—but also demonstrate the ways in which your voices matter.

2014 Schedule

Booklet Schedule

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2013: Davidson College

The National Forum for Undergraduate Student Editors (FUSE) invites all undergraduate editors, staff members, writers, and faculty advisers of literary magazines and newspapers to participate in the second annual FUSE Conference, to be held on November 7 and 8, 2013, at Davidson College. The conference will be organized around the broad theme of “Interdisciplinarity” and will feature a keynote address by Dr. Laurence Roth (author, editor, and director of an undergraduate publishing & editing program), paper presentations, and experiential learning events around the campus and town of Davidson. These will be interspersed with opportunities to engage in conversations and collaboration with participants from other institutions. The conference is open to undergraduate and faculty presenters, as well as mixed groups, and aims to promote a collaborative community, refreshing the innovative and interdisciplinary spirit of the world of undergraduate publishing. 2013 Schedule

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2012: Cabrini College

Forum for Undergraduate Student Editors (FUSE) along with Cabrini College hosted the first ever FUSE Conference with the theme of Gatekeepers and Visionaries: Undergraduate Publishing and Editing. Students and faculty members involved in the various facets of the undergraduate publishing community presented papers on a range of topics. The conference featured trips to the Wharton Esherick House, Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens, and lunch at Marrakesh). 2012 Schedule

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