Association of Adaptation Studies Annual Conference 2026

“Adaptation and Aurality”

Dates: July 7-10, 2026
Location: Burman University - Lacombe, Alberta, Canada
Hosted by: Burman University, in partnership with the Association of Adaptation Studies (AAS)

The conference this year is to be held at Burman University in Lacombe, Alberta, Canada. Alberta is one of the sunniest provinces in Canada with beautiful rolling prairies, Rocky Mountains, and deep canyons that elicit stunning echoes. Burman University is situated on the hilltop of Lacombe, a charming university town in Central Alberta. Lacombe is just outside Red Deer, and is situated between Edmonton International Airport (by about an hour) and Calgary International Airport (by about one and a half hours). The conference’s events, keynote address, and sessions will take place at the new campus library and McKibbin Centre—the adjacent building and home to our School of Education.

Burman University will arrange for a shuttle to pick up participants from either airport at designated times and locations. We recommend Best Western Lacombe as the ideal accommodation for conference participants. Further details on hotel rates and registration for conference attendants are forthcoming.

This year’s main theme, “Adaptation and Aurality,” invites participants to explore how sound, voice, and listening shape the processes and products of adaptation. Adaptation has often been theorized through the visual—translation from page to screen, image to image—but what happens when we listen instead? How might focusing on the sonic dimensions of adaptation open new perspectives on storytelling, embodiment, memory, and cultural exchange?

Keynote

We are thrilled to announce that our guest keynote speaker this year will be Dr. Sonnet L’Abbé. Their work reflects intersections of narrative and sound and we look forward to a stimulating and compelling keynote address to inspire our conference delegates and attendees. Sonnet L’Abbé is a professor in the English Department and the Creative Writing and Journalism department at Vancouver Island University in Nanaimo, B.C. They currently write and perform at the intersection of poetry, jazz, blues and spoken word. L’Abbé is on the poetry editorial board of Brick Books and The Malahat Review, and also sits on the board of the Nanaimo Blues Society. Their chapbook, Anima Canadensis, won the 2017 bp Nichol Chapbook Award, and their most recent book of poems, Sonnet’s Shakespeare, was nominated for multiple awards and named a Quill and Quire Book of The Year for 2019. Sonnet had a solo show of songs and poems at the Port Theatre in 2021, performed at the New Sonic Poetries conference in Toronto in 2024, and at the Sounding Poetries conference at UBC in 2025. They are developing their most recent solo show of poems and vocal performance, My Black History Is Poetry, Is Jazz, to tour in 2026.

Key Dates

Registration Opens: February 15, 2026 (early bird)
Conference Dates: July 7–10, 2026

>> REGISTER HERE <<

NOTE: Registration from certain countries may not be possible through the above link. If you experience issues, please click here for an alternate registration method.

Contact: For further information or inquiries, please contact aas2026@burmanu.ca.