Proposals are invited for a two-day symposium, February 17-18, at Vanderbilt University that engages with and theorizes women’s intellectual and artistic contributions to modern Yiddish culture. The dominant narratives of Jewish cultural history have, until very recently, excluded women’s contributions. Yet, women played central roles in shaping culture as intellectuals, artists, and consumers. Building on a rich and developing body of work on Jewish women’s writing, this conference will analyze and address women’s contributions to modern Yiddish culture. The conference aims to recover important cultural texts and mobilize them towards a richer understanding of Jewish modernity. How did women writers theorize their contributions to modern culture? How does their work challenge existing theoretical and historical paradigms? We define women’s writing broadly to include prose fiction, belletristic essays, criticism, memoir, and other forms of prose writing, either published or unpublished. Participants will present a paper on the work they have chosen and lead a discussion on the text and their interpretation of it. Papers should address not only the work, but also its place in Yiddish letters, theorizing its potential to transform existing narratives. Travel, lodging, and food will be paid for by Vanderbilt University. Please send a 200-word abstract and the title of the original text that you will discuss to: allison.schachter@vanderbilt.edu