The Faculty of English, University of Cambridge; Stanford Text Technologies, Stanford University, and The University Library Research Institute are delighted to announce a Call for Papers for the international conference ‘The Craft, Texture, and Aesthetics of Letter Forms from Antiquity to the Present’.
Venue: University of Cambridge, Faculty of English
Dates: 2nd to 4th September 2025.

‘The Craft, Texture, and Aesthetics of Letter Forms’ will bring together scholars, practitioners and heritage experts to explore the matter of lettering, its practice and study. By marrying a range of disciplinary and professional approaches, we hope to recover the aesthetic, historical, and material significance of letter formation in all its rich variety. We will do this across all material supports – whether stone, vellum, paper, metal or wood – and across media ranging from letters inked, engraved and incised, to those freshly pixelated for our computer screens. In the process, we aim to treat letter forms holistically, as phenomena that migrate dynamically between different times, different cultures, different media, different professions, and ultimately different disciplines.
All sessions will be plenary. Places are limited to allow us to cover catering and registration costs for speakers. For further information and for details on how to submit an abstract please see the conference website, deadline for abstract: 30 March 2025.
For any additional information, please see the website: https://www.english.cam.ac.uk/events/lettering/
Please, circulate within your network, we envisage that funding permitting there will be limited travel bursaries for ECRs.
If you have any enquiries about the call for papers please direct them to letterforms@english.cam.ac.uk




