2026 - Seeking Truth

The final submission deadline is March 13, 2026.

The conference date is Monday, April 13, 2026.

So often, as humans, we seek the truth.

Whether we are reading a news story, a personal memoir, or an academic textbook, we expect to encounter truth on the written page. However, in a world of rapid A.I. developments and the proliferation of “fake news” and “deep fakes,” distinguishing fact from fiction has never felt more urgent. Questions that guide us include some of the basics: What happened? Where and when? Who said what? Yet despite the seeming simplicity of such questions, truth seems harder to pin down in our current climate. Nevertheless, apprehending the truth is necessary and valuable; whether we write to inform, persuade, educate, or entertain, truth ultimately resonates with our sense of human responsibility and accountability. Truth is what sparks readers to think, to question, to feel. It’s what moves us to act more ethically. How can we apply such pursuits of truth when engaging with fiction and poetry? Do these genres offer less truth? Or do they present truth in another way? How do philosophical, scientific, or emotional truths emanate from fiction, poetry, and other creative forms of composition? While such genres sometimes play fast and loose with facts, maybe they can still speak to deeper truths. At this year’s Kutztown University Composition Conference (KUCC), we invite participants to reflect on how writing enables them to pursue the truth—whether factual, emotional, philosophical, or artistic. How does writing crystallize ideas? How does it help us confront uncomfortable or inconvenient truths? How do stories and poems “lie” in order to tell the truth? How does writing preserve truths on the page, even if only for a moment? Can a truth ever be permanent and timeless?