RIVER TALKS / Paroles de fleuves

Université d’Angers (France), 17–19 June 2026

The international conference of RIVER TALKS/Paroles de fleuves explores rivers from literary and cultural studies perspectives, considering them not only as geographical entities but as spaces of imagination, communication and cultural heritage. Drawing on approaches from environmental humanities and blue humanities, the conference focuses on river imaginaries, the voice of rivers, and the relationships between human and non-human worlds, while highlighting the diversity of European river cultures.

Topics may include (non-exhaustive):

• environmental and blue humanities
• ecocriticism and ecopoetics
• ecofeminist and postcolonial approaches
• cultural heritage, folk cultures and indigenous knowledges
• rivers as agents of communication
• language, translation and multilingual representations of rivers

Alongside academic panels, the programme will include creative and co-creative workshops, such as creative writing sessions, poetic readings and geopoetic walks along the Loire.