Call for Papers
Writing in Motion: Writing Research Across Borders
University of Sydney, Australia | 30 November – 3 December 2026
Submission Deadline: 15 March 2026
Conference Dates: 30 November – 3 December 2026
Location: University of Sydney, Camperdown Campus, Sydney, Australia
Introduction
Writing moves. It carries ideas across languages, disciplines, and borders. It responds to technological shifts and political upheavals. It persuades, unsettles, and transforms. And writing research moves with it: tracking change, shaping practice, setting new ideas in motion.
WRAB 2026 will be hosted by the University of Sydney’s School of Art, Communication and English in partnership with the International Society for the Advancement of Writing Research (ISAWR). We invite researchers, teachers, practitioners, research students and writing centre staff to Sydney to explore writing in motion through its many modalities. As generative AI reshapes how we compose and teach, as cultural rhetorics challenge inherited frameworks, and as the politics of international education intensify, writing researchers face urgent questions about the writing we investigate, the theories we draw on and develop, the methods we use to study writing, and the audiences our research serves.
This conference asks: How does writing research respond to change? How might research move people—students, teachers, policymakers, publics—toward more thoughtful, multimodal engagement with writing in all its forms? We invite you to reflect on these questions, share your research, and connect with a global community of writing researchers and educators.
Conference Themes and Suggested Topics
We welcome multimodal proposals addressing, but not limited to, the following:
Histories and Futures of Writing Research
- Methodological innovation and interdisciplinary approaches to professional, academic, technical, creative writing research and education
- The changing institutional landscape for writing research
- Historical perspectives on writing instruction research
- Futures of writing research: speculation, scenario, and foresight
Cultural Rhetorics and Decolonising Writing Research
- Indigenous research, knowledges, and approaches to writing and rhetoric
- Challenging imperial and colonial research frameworks in writing studies
- Culturally sustaining research-led pedagogies and research methodologies
- Writing research that centres First Nations, Global South, and other marginalised perspectives
Language, Mobility, and Multilingual Writing
Research on:
- Writing development for international and multilingual students
- The politics of English and language diversity in higher education
- Translingual approaches to writing pedagogy
- Language support, academic literacies, and institutional responses to student diversity
- Multimodal writing
Writing and Generative AI
Research on:
- The impact of large language models on writing processes, pedagogy, and assessment
- AI literacy and critical approaches to automated writing tools
- Writing in AI-mediated environments
- Ethical and epistemological questions raised by generative text
Writing Support and Learning Across Contexts
Research on:
- Writing centres, learning hubs, and academic language and learning practice
- Peer tutoring, writing groups, and collaborative approaches
- Writing to learn
- Writing across the curriculum, in the disciplines, and in the professions
- Writing transitions: secondary to tertiary, undergraduate to postgraduate, academic to workplace
General Stream: Writing Research Across Borders
We also welcome proposals that address writing research more broadly, including work that crosses disciplinary, institutional, linguistic, or geographical boundaries.
About the Conference
WRAB 2026 will be held on the Camperdown Campus of the University of Sydney, Australia’s first university, situated on the lands of the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. The conference will feature three keynote addresses (details to be announced), an Indigenous Poet Laureate, and cultural connection events including yarning with Indigenous Elders, local tours, and a conference dinner.
WRAB 2026 brings together diverse approaches to writing research and scholarship, including learning centres, writing hubs, centres for language teaching, and disciplinary research in Writing Studies, Linguistics, Literary Studies, Didactics, Education Sciences, and Educational Psychology. We welcome presenters from these and similarly diverse fields: researchers, practitioners, teachers (K–12, tertiary, and business/industry), graduate students, and administrators working across multimodal contexts where writing research matters. We encourage multimodal proposals across disciplines and sectors on collaborations between K–12 and tertiary researchers, tertiary educators and industry, and community/civic-based projects.
The conference will run as parallel streams of 90-minute sessions across a variety of formats (described below). While keynotes may be live-streamed, the conference will be primarily an in-person event.
For postgraduate students: A networking workshop will provide opportunities to connect with peers and established researchers in the field.
Submission Guidelines
Submitted proposals will be reviewed by volunteer members of ISAWR in association with the Local Conference Organising Committee.
Deadline: 15 March 2026
Where to submit: TBA (via www.wrab2026.com)
Proposal Formats
| Format | Description |
|---|---|
| Individual Paper | 20-minute presentation |
| Panel | Up to four 20-minute presentations |
| Symposium | Up to five brief 10-minute presentations, followed by discussion |
| Roundtable | 90-minute discussion or workshop-focused session |
| Poster | Displayed during welcome reception |
Requirements
| Component | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Abstract | 200 words maximum (including references, if required) |
| Presenter bio | 50 words maximum per presenter (will be redacted for anonymous review) |
| Panel/Symposium/Roundtable rationale | Additional 100 words outlining session format and identifying convenor (identifying information redacted for review) |
Selection Criteria
ISAWR strongly encourages multilingual participation. Proposals will be accepted in English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Arabic, and Australian Indigenous languages (the most commonly spoken languages in Australia). Proposals will be evaluated based on:
- Level of adherence to conference themes
- Appropriateness for a multi/transnational audience
- A strong, sustained focus on writing research
Proposals addressing multimodal writing research, cross-disciplinary writing research, multilingual writing research, and research on/from historically marginalised groups are especially welcome.
Notification: Applicants will receive responses by early May 2026.
Financial support: In addition to student discounts, WRAB offers reduced registration rates for presenters from under-resourced countries who can demonstrate financial need.
Contact
For enquiries, please contact: contact@wrab2026.com
Local Conference Committee
Led by Drs Benjamin Miller (University of Sydney), Susan Thomas (University of Sydney), and Beck Wise (University of Queensland), with support from Cana Nongkhlaw (University of Sydney).
We look forward to welcoming you to Sydney!
Writing in Motion: Writing Research Across Borders 