The 2026 Annual Meeting
Check this page regularly for more information on the 2026 Annual Meeting, which will be held on Friday 23 January 2026 in NYC!
About the Annual Meeting ↑
The BSA Annual Meeting features the New Scholars Program, a keynote lecture, and synchronous panel presentations in the morning. Details about the panel presentations and New Scholars program will be shared in November 2025.
Registration for the Annual Meeting is required, opening November 2025.
The 2026 Keynote by Dr. Nora C. Benedict ↑
Erle Stanley Gardner and the Case of the Mexican Pirates
In this paper I examine the central role of piracy in the development of the Latin American publishing industry by focusing on the materiality of illicit editions. Using the case of pirated Erle Stanley Gardner novels by Mexico’s Editorial Diana, I analyze their physical features to show how abstract legal and economic conflicts manifest in tangible objects. I contend that these publishers were not simply evading copyright laws but actively exploiting their international limitations and ambiguities. By leveraging intimate local knowledge, a publisher could register a title to create a veneer of legitimacy, establish a domestic paper trail, and strategically block other competitors from publishing the same work. Drawing on correspondence between Gardner, his agents, and publishers, as well as a detailed study of the books themselves, I argue that such practices demonstrate how piracy has not only shaped the circulation of global literature in Latin America, but also become a constitutive feature of its publishing ecosystem.
About the speaker: Nora Benedict is an Associate Professor of Spanish and Digital Humanities at the University of Georgia. Her research centers on Latin American literature, book history, and questions of access and maintenance surrounding both digital and print cultures. She is the author of Borges and the Literary Marketplace (Yale UP, 2021) and co-editor of The Oxford Handbook of Jorge Luis Borges (Oxford UP, 2024). Her work has also appeared in journals such as Hispanic Review, Book History, Studies in Bibliography, and Modernism/Modernity. Beyond her research on Borges, her second monograph in progress, Bound Together: Global Interdependence in the Latin American Book Market, 1940–1970, examines how international publishing firms directed their energies toward Latin America, what kinds of strategies they employed, and which areas they targeted as they began to enter the market and forge collaborative alliances.
About the Meeting Venue: Location & Access ↑
The meeting will be held at Convene, 75 Rockefeller Center in New York City. Registration is required for attendance; all registrants will receive a QR code by email the evening before and the morning of the event for access to the event space. Should you have any concerns about security protocols in the building, please feel welcome to contact the BSA office by email at any time.
About our in-person program
This year’s program will be presented to our in-person audience only, with recordings of the New Scholars talks, the keynote lecture, and the business meeting made available on YouTube in February 2025. Sign up for our email newsletter to be the first to know when recordings have been released!
Health safety protocols
Masking is encouraged but not required.
In alignment with our host venue’s policy, we strongly recommend staying up to date on vaccinations at all times. Proof of vaccination will not be required for entry.
Registration is required for the Annual Meeting. Check back in November for more information, including the registration form.
2026 BSA Bibliography Week Sponsors ↑
Thank you to the sponsors who make our event possible!
Folio Sponsors: