The Poetics and Linguistics Association is an international academic association which exists to promote the research, teaching and learning in the study of linguistic style and the language of literature

Literature

Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...

. The Poetics and Linguistics Association is usually known by the acronym PALA. The main activities of PALA are the publication of the journal Language and Literature, and an annual conference.

History of PALA

PALA was founded in 1980 by a group of scholars who were interested in the language of literature, and who did not feel that the forums that were available to them at the time were adequate for productive academic discussion. Among the founding, or early, members were Ron Carter, Roger Fowler

Roger Fowler

Roger Fowler is a world-renowned and long-serving British Linguist and professor of English and Linguistics at the University of East Anglia. He is well-known for his works in stylistics. Together with Bob Hodge, Gunther Kress and Tony Trew, he authored the influential book Language and Control,...

, Geoffrey Leech, Mick Short, Katie Wales, and Peter Verdonk.

To celebrate its Silver Jubilee in 2005, PALA held a poll of its members to award a prize to ‘the most influential book in stylistics’ to be published in its 25-year history. The prize was awarded to Style in Fiction by Geoffrey Leech and Mick Short, originally published by Longman in 1981, and a special symposium, hosted by the two authors, was held in Lancaster in March 2006.

Organisation of PALA

PALA is run by a committee which is elected by the membership. An Annual General Meeting is held each year at the annual conference, and is the ultimate decision-making body of the association. The current chair is Lesley Jeffries of Huddersfield University.

Former chairs of PALA are (most recent first):

• Isil Bas
• Willie van Peer
• Tony Bex
• Katie Wales
• Mick Short
• Ron Carter
• Vimala Herman
• Roger Fowler

Language and Literature

Language and Literature is a peer-reviewed, international, academic journal covering the latest developments in stylistic analysis, the linguistic analysis of literature and related areas. Topics covered include: literary and non-literary stylistics, the connection between stylistics, critical theory, linguistics and literary criticism, and their applications in teaching to native and non-native speaking students. Language and Literature is published by Sage, and the current editor is Paul Simpson, of Queen's University, Belfast.

Past conferences

Meetings and conferences have been held since 1980. In recent years the major annual conference has taken place at the following venues:

• 1995: University of Granada, Spain
• 1996: Queen's University, Belfast
• 1997: Nottingham (organised by University of Central England and Wolverhampton University)
• 1998: Bern, Switzerland
• 1999: Potchefstroom, South Africa

• 2000: Goldsmiths College, London
• 2001: Budapest, Hungary
• 2002: University of Birmingham, UK
• 2003: Bogazici University, Istanbul
• 2004: New York University
• 2005: Huddersfield University, UK
• 2006: Joensuu, Finland
• 2007: Kansai Gaidai University, Japan

Future conferences

• 2008: University of Sheffield
• 2009: Roosevelt Academy
  Roosevelt Academy
  Roosevelt Academy is a small liberal arts college located in Middelburg in the Netherlands. It offers a residential setting and is an international honors college of Utrecht University.-History:...
  
  , Middelburg, the Netherlands

External links

• PALA website http://www.pala.ac.uk/
• Language and Literature http://lal.sagepub.com/
• Style in Fiction Symposium http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/events/styleinfiction/