The Association for the Study of Literature and Environment (UK and Ireland) was founded in 1998. Our aim is to represent and support scholars and writers in the UK, Republic of Ireland, and beyond who are interested in the environment and its expression in the cultural imagination.
We provide a forum for ecocriticism, the environmental humanities, and cognate fields such as animal studies. Our members’ work explores the intricate relationships between human and nonhuman environments and creatures, today, in any historical period, and in a diverse range of cultural and geographical contexts.
We are motivated by a commitment to ecologically progressive practices and politics, but, above all, we seek to foster a spirit of open dialogue and intellectual curiosity about how nature, environment, and animals exist in our lives.
Our Activities and Events
We publish a journal, Green Letters, that brings together the latest research in ecocriticism and the environmental humanities as well as reviews of books and other publications. All ASLE-UKI members receive regular copies of Green Letters.
We organise regular events ranging from specialist seminars to full-scale conferences. Our main conference takes place every other year, normally in ‘odd’ years in the calendar. Our postgraduate and early career conference normally runs in ‘even’ years. We also offer online seminars and podcasts, both of which take place several times each year.
We offer a small but growing range of prizes and awards to support events and research in the environmental humanities. These include bursaries to help early career scholars attend our events and our biennial book prize.