On June 24–28, 2026, the L.M. Montgomery Institute at the University of Prince Edward Island will hold their 17th biennial international conference, entitled "L.M. Montgomery and Change." The academic conference will be held in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. It will be a hybrid conference, and all sessions will be live-streamed so people may either attend the event in person or participate virtually.
There will be three conference keynote speakers:
Megan Follows - the actress beloved for playing Anne Shirley in Sullivan Entertainment's Anne of Green Gables (1985) and its sequels. Follows is currently working on producing a television series based on L.M. Montgomery's life, titled Lucy. Maud. Her keynote is titled: "Anne of Everywhere: How A Redheaded Girl from PEI Became Canada's Greatest Cultural Ambassador and Changed my Life Forever."
Katharine Slater - associate professor of English at Rowan University will present a keynote titled, "Change the Subject: Queer Opacity and L.M. Montgomery."
Allison McBain Hudson - the current Visiting Scholar at the L.M. Montgomery Institute will present a keynote titled, "Maud, Pat, and Me: The Materiality of Change"
Attendees may present their own papers or propose panels. Here are the details from the LMMI's call for papers:
Call for Papers
“It seemed to open such dizzying possibilities of change.”
— L.M. Montgomery, Emily Climbs
“All she really wanted, or seemed to want, was to…see that as few changes as possible came into existence there.”
— L.M. Montgomery, Mistress Pat
“Is it really the same world I saw then that I see now? It seems so very different.”
— L.M. Montgomery, Selected Journals vol. I
“The only constant in life is change.”
—Heraclitus
The constancy of change pervades Montgomery’s life, work, and legacy. From the social, literary, political, and technological changes that took place throughout her lifetime to the ways in which she wrote about her characters coping with personal change, Montgomery engages change in all aspects of the human experience. Whether considered a positive or negative force, change is vital in both “real” life and in fiction, for without it comes stagnation, boredom, or worse. Change is not an easy force to be reckoned with, and the challenges of change are a common theme in Montgomery’s world.
The 2026 conference invites proposals for research presentations that consider the theme of change in L.M. Montgomery’s works and world. Submissions should engage some aspect of this force in Montgomery’s life, creative work, life-writing, or legacy. Possible topics include, but are not limited, to:
- Changes in society during Montgomery’s lifetime
- Changes to physical environments affected by Montgomery’s legacy
- Paradigm shifts in Montgomery’s fiction or life writing: changes in dreams, life trajectories, expectations, hopes, assumptions, etc
- Changes to Montgomery’s work due to self-editing, whether to her fiction or her journals
- Montgomery’s own dislike of change as presented in her journals and/or characters
- How Montgomery’s fictional characters deal with or feel about change
- Changes in Montgomery’s style, tone, subject matter, and voice over her career, whether in her fiction, life writing, or poetry
- Changes to the critical responses to Montgomery’s work over time—how have scholars studied or perceived Montgomery’s work?
- Changes to the ways readers (and viewers) find, accept, reject, engage with, and generally consume Montgomery texts.
- Changes made to Montgomery’s work in translation or adaptation, particularly considering the role of equality/diversity/inclusion
- Ways in which Montgomery’s works speak to current changes in aspects of our own lives, from personal circumstances to global events such as war, pandemic, the development of AI
- The agency involved in changing one’s environment or circumstances in Montgomery’s fiction or life writing
- Changes in the natural world – seasons, destructive forces, or the effects of time as presented in Montgomery’s fiction, life writing, or legacy
- Climate change through the lens of Montgomery’s work and legacy
- Affective change: what emotions/ somatic experiences/ interconnections does Montgomery render in her writing? Does change hurt or heal?
Proposals should articulate a strong argument and situate that argument in the context of existing Montgomery scholarship. Individual paper and panel proposals are double-blind reviewed. We also welcome proposals for workshops, special exhibits, or other visual displays engaging these ideas. Proposals that view Montgomery’s life and art from different cultural and theoretical perspectives are particularly encouraged. For more information, please contact Caroline Jones (caroline.jones@upei.ca) or Allison Hudson (allison.hudson@dcu.ie), co-chairs of the 2026 conference. “L.M. Montgomery and Change” is to be a hybrid conference. It will be held in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, on 24-28 June 2026; all sessions will be livestreamed, allowing for virtual presentation, attendance, and participation.
Official Website:
L.M. Montgomery and Change: The L.M. Montgomery Institute’s 17th Biennial International Conference
Image Credit:
Screencapture from the L.M. Montgomery Institute’s website.
Created January 3, 2026.
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