Mission Statement
The Association for Canadian and Québec Literatures is a learned society that promotes research, pedagogies, new knowledges, literary criticism and theory about the diverse literatures of Canada and Québec. ACQL also seeks to foster scholarly conversation between those committed to the study and research of these literatures in English and French.
Activities
Research
The ACQL organizes an annual conference and has traditionally participated in the Congress of the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences (CFHSS). While the focus of ACQL is literature, research and presentations on cinema and other related topics are always welcome. The organisation is open to collaboration with respect to conferences and all other scholarly endeavours. In the past, we have worked closely with ACCUTE (Association of Canadian College and University Teachers of English) and APFUCC (Association des professeur.e.s de français des universités et collèges canadiens) among other associations with which we share common interests.
Prizes
ACQL annually awards two juried prizes for the best book-length studies in Canadian and Québec literary criticism, one in English and one in French. The prestigious Gabrielle Roy Prize is the only one of its kind for literary criticism on Canadian and Québec topics in Canada.
In order to encourage new directions in research, ACQL decided in May 2005 to offer an annual prize for the best paper presented at the annual conference by a graduate student or postdoctoral researcher. In 2010, the prize was renamed in honour of the late Barbara Godard, a well-respected Canadian literary scholar who was strongly involved with ACQL since its inception and was especially dedicated to her students.
Student support
We welcome and support young scholars by providing an opportunity and context for publicly presenting their research.