Call for Proposals

Now accepting proposals for the 2021 Power of Words Conference!
Directions:

1. Read the application instructions carefully
2. Use the form below to submit your proposal by June 30, 2021
3. Email your CV or resume to: director@tlanetwork.org.
   Include the subject line "Call for proposals POW 2021: (your name)" 

DEADLINE for all submissions: June 30, 2021

The 17th Annual Power of Words Conference will be held October 28 - October 31, 2021, online, and we are seeking your session proposals!

This powerful conference brings together writers, storytellers, performers, musicians, educators, activists, healers, health professionals, community leaders, and more. Together we explore the written, spoken, and sung word, seeking to find how it can bring liberation, celebration, and transformation to individuals and communities.

We invite your proposals for experiential, didactic, and/or performance-based sessions that focus on writing, storytelling, drama, film, songwriting, and other forms of Transformative Language Arts (TLA).

We encourage proposals from people targeted by racism, low-income people, people with disabilities, queer-identified people, and people of transgender and/or gender-non-conforming experience.

Session Type

After completing the presenter application below, you will be prompted to choose your Session Type. 
Please submit a separate proposal for each session.
See examples of our 2019 session descriptions here.
POW offers five types of sessions:

• Presentation: Participants receive information from one or more presenters. The presentation may include activities, discussions, or Q&A but for the purpose of transmitting information from presenters to participants.
  
  

• Panel: Much like a presentation, but participants instead receive information from multiple presenters engaged in a facilitated discussion. 
  
  

• Workshop: Participants work together or individually to create something, such as a body of shared knowledge, piece of art, or poem. The facilitator of the session primarily serves to help the group develop their work by providing a framework and methodologies, but does not necessarily contribute to the work product.
  
  

• Skill Training: Participants practice a skill or set of skills with the instruction and guidance of a trainer. A skill-share requires appropriate materials and space for participants to practice a skill, such as a dance floor for embodied movement or small groups for communication skills. If time/space/materials are limited, not every participant may have a chance to practice directly and instead learn from observing others demonstrating/learning. However, if only the presenter demonstrates the skill, the session is more properly a presentation.
  
  

• Performance: Participants witness a performance of storytelling, theater, song, music, etc. by one or more performers. The performance is the main component of the session, and may stand on its own or be preceded or followed by discussion or other types of engagement.

Proposal Requirements

If your session is a presentation, workshop, skill training, performance, and networking opportunity, you will be prompted to submit the following information:

• Session Title
• Print-Ready Session Description -- 50-100 words. See examples of our 2019 session descriptions here.
• Print-Ready Biography -- 50-100 words, written in 3rd person.
  
• Session Outline / Notes -- Please provide an outline of your session and/or any notes on the session. This information is for our review and will not be distributed. For example, describe the purpose of your work, how it will unfold, and who might benefit.
  
• Participation Level -- Lecture-based, lecture & discussion, or highly interactive.
• Category -- The thematic strand which is most applicable to your proposal. You may check more than one, but please do so only if each topic is an integral theme in your session:
• • Narrative Medicine (healing and health related to the written, spoken, and sung word)
  • Right Livelihood (making a living from what you love in service to your community)
  • Social Change (community building, activism, and more)
  • Engaged Spirituality (spiritual and/or religious practices related to TLA)
  • Ecological Literacy (restoration, rehabilitation, environmental justice, and place-based TLA)
• Additionally, if you are wishing to participate in a panel, you will be prompted to submit the following information:

Terms/Agreements

Finally, there are three terms/agreements for presenting at POW:

• CV or Resume -- Your proposal is not complete until we have received your CV or resume.
  Send to: director@tlanetwork.org. 
  Include the subject line "Call for proposals POW 2021: (your name)." 
• Attendance -- If your proposal is selected and you accept the invitation, you will need to register for and attend the full conference. Conference scholarships are available on a limited basis. See more scholarship information here. 
• Registration -- All presenters must register and pay for the conference by August 31, 2021.
  The conference rate for presenters is a sliding scale, ranging from $75 - $200. 
• Conference scholarships are available on a limited basis.

You will be notified if your session is accepted by the end of July, 2021. Thank you!

For further information or questions, please contact the director@tlanetwork.org.

DEADLINE for submission: June 30, 2021