L.M. Montgomery and Change

The L.M. Montgomery Institute’s
17th Biennial International Conference

L.M. Montgomery Institute, University of Prince Edward Island

June 24–28, 2026

L.M. Montgomery and Change: Conference Information

Conference Registration--now open!

To register for the in-person or virtual conference:

1. Review your registration options and price list here.

2. IMPORTANT, especially for registrants outside the US and Canada: Review and reference the instructions linked here for using UPEI's ticketing system.

3. Register for the in-person (full or partial) conference, or full virtual conference at the link below!

Note: Harmonized Sales Tax (HST, 15%) will be added to your total as a fee at checkout.

Conference Registration

If you would like to register ONLY for (free!) virtual access to Megan Follows' keynote (i.e., you aren’t attending in person and you do not require access to other events via one of the virtual options above), please register here!

Free! Virtual access to Megan Follows' Keynote

Draft Conference Schedule

Click the arrow in the upper right to enlarge, download, or print this DRAFT conference schedule!

Travel and Lodging

On-Campus Lodging

A block of rooms in the UPEI Residence Hotel has been reserved for LMMI Conference attendees who wish to stay on campus. Various room configurations are available, and all rooms have access to complimentary Wi-Fi, security services, and free on-site laundry facilities. Staying on campus is convenient way to access to conference and engage with other attendees, but please note that these accommodations are student residences, not commercial hotels. They provide clean, functional living spaces but do not offer the full slate of amenities you might expect from a hotel.

To book campus accommodations, please call (preferred) or email UPEI Accommodations, or fill out their inquiry form linked below. Mention the L.M. Montgomery Institute in your inquiry to reserve a room in our block.

UPEI Residence Information and Booking

Other Accommodations

Charlottetown and the surrounding area offer a variety of options for hotels, inns, B&Bs, or vacation rentals within easy travel distance of the UPEI campus. Both Tourism PEI and Discover Charlottetown highlight some of the many options, but visitors are encouraged to seek their own lodging from other commercial travel sites in order to find accommodations that meet their needs.

Discounted Rates at Local Hotels

Holiday Inn Express & Suites Charlottetown (200 Capital Dr., Charlottetown, PE)

Please call the hotel and mention the L.M. Montgomery and Change Conference Rate. Rooms are not being held for this event, so the discounted rate is subject to availability. Discounted Rate of approximately 25% off the normal rate: $299 plus tax/levy per night (2 Queen bed or 1 King bed standard room). Amenities: complimentary hot breakfast, free parking, wi-fi, and pool/ fitness center access, just minutes from UPEI. Phone number : 902-892-1201

Traveling to and around Prince Edward Island

Delegates can fly directly to the Charlottetown Airport from connections in Montreal and Toronto (and some other Canadian cities depending on the date). Alternatives are to fly into Halifax, Nova Scotia or Moncton, New Brunswick, and either rent a car to drive to PEI, or travel via Maritime Bus (approximately 4 hr 15 min from Halifax and 3 hr from Moncton--limited departure times available--check bus departure locations at the airport).

Once on the Island, a variety of transportation options are available including car rentals, ride shares, taxis, and public transportation. Please see this helpful guide from Tourism PEI for more information about transportation on the Island.

Conference Keynote Speakers

Megan Follows

Keynote Title: "Anne of Everywhere: How A Redheaded Girl from PEI Became Canada's Greatest Cultural Ambassador and Changed my Life Forever."

When: Saturday, June 27--access to this keynote is included in all full, virtual or in-person, conference registrations! OR you can register for free virtual access for this keynote only here.

Megan Follows is an award winning actress, director and producer of film, television, and theatre. Winner of the 2020 DGC award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in a Family Series, the 2020 CSA for Best Direction of a Children’s or Youth Program, and the 2025 CSA for Best Performer in a Digital Series for Crave’s My Dead Mom, she has directed television for Netflix, CW, CBC, Hulu, Lifetime, and Hallmark among others, and her new feature film, Stealing the Sky - which she produced, directed, and starred in - has garnered multiple awards on the festival circuit.

Follows began acting at the age of nine, landing her first leading role in the series Matt and Jenny when she was eleven, and starring in the Oscar-winning short film Boys and Girls. She went on to star in such iconic films as Hockey Night, opposite Rick Moranis; Inherit the Wind opposite Kirk Douglas and Jason Robards; and Stephen King’s Silver Bullet. She is recognized and beloved by audiences worldwide for her starring role in the Emmy Award winning Anne of Green Gables TV movies. In recent years, Follows has found herself drawn back to the remarkable world of L.M. Montgomery. She lent her voice to the audiobook Emily of New Moon; directed Sandra Oh, Catherine O'Hara, and Victor Garber in Audible's nine part adaptation of Anne of Green Gables; and her original scripted drama series Lucy. Maud (currently in development) was selected to present at the 2025 Berlinale Co-Production Series Market.

Katharine Slater

Keynote Title: "Change the Subject: Queer Opacity and L.M. Montgomery"

When: Friday, June 26

Dr. Katharine Slater is an associate professor of English at Rowan University, where she teaches courses on children’s and young adult literature, queer literature, and romance. Her most recent publication on L.M. Montgomery’s work is titled “‘A ghost you can feel and hear but never see’: Queer Hauntings in Emily of New Moon,” and her current book project, The Queer Mobilities of Girlhood in Young Adult Literature, argues that sapphic girls in YA texts grow and move in ways that disturb linear narratives around female adolescent development. In addition to her academic work, Kate writes adult sapphic romance under a pen name; her debut novel was a recent finalist for the Lambda Literary Awards.

Allison McBain Hudson

Keynote Title: "Maud, Pat, and Me: The Materiality of Change"

When: Thursday, June 25

Dr. Allison McBain Hudson is the current Visiting Scholar at the L.M. Montgomery Institute. She recently completed her Ph.D. at Dublin City University on the significance of material culture in the novels of L.M. Montgomery, particularly the Emily trilogy. Originally from Alberta, she obtained a BA in English from the University of Calgary in 1995 and moved to Ireland in 1997. She earned an MA in Children’s and Young Adult Literature from Dublin City University in 2019 with a focus on Montgomery’s unique Romanticism and “everyday magic.” When she’s not studying or teaching, she is quilting and sewing, walking the dogs in the woods, and looking for old houses and kindred spirits. She is married to an Irish artist, and they live on the outskirts of Dublin with their two daughters.

Conference Co-Chairs

Dr. Allison McBain Hudson is the current Visiting Scholar at the L.M. Montgomery Institute. She recently completed her PhD at Dublin City University on the significance of material culture in the novels of L.M. Montgomery, particularly the Emily trilogy. Originally from Alberta, she obtained a BA in English from the University of Calgary in 1995 and moved to Ireland in 1997. She earned an MA in Children’s and Young Adult Literature from Dublin City University in 2019 with a focus on Montgomery’s unique Romanticism and “everyday magic.” When she’s not studying or teaching, she is quilting and sewing, walking the dogs in the woods, and looking for old houses and kindred spirits. She is married to an Irish artist, and they live on the outskirts of Dublin with their two daughters.

Dr. Caroline E. Jones is a past Visiting Scholar at the L.M. Montgomery Institute. She received her Ph.D. in English Studies, focusing on children’s and young adult literatures, from Illinois State University and her M.A. in English from Hollins College. Her work on Montgomery goes back to her M.A. thesis, which explores the “happy ending” of the Emily trilogy. She has since presented and published on class, motherhood, the young artist, and more in Montgomery. She has essays in Children’s Play in Literature (2019), L.M. Montgomery and War (2017), L.M. Montgomery’s Rainbow Valleys (2015), and Anne Around the World (2013). Her most recent publication is “Read What You Know: Nostalgia and the Discovery of Self through L.M. Montgomery’s Emily of New Moon,” which appears in the L.M. Montgomery and Re-Vision collection in the Journal of L.M. Montgomery Studies. A former bookseller and full-time academic, she currently works as an editor in Austin, Texas, USA.

Call for Papers

Proposal submissions are now closed. The CFP below is preserved only for reference purposes.

The constancy of change pervades Montgomery’s life, work, and legacy. From the social, literary, political, and technological changes that took place throughout her lifetime to the ways in which she wrote about her characters coping with personal change, Montgomery engages change in all aspects of the human experience. Whether considered a positive or negative force, change is vital in both “real” life and in fiction, for without it comes stagnation, boredom, or worse. Change is not an easy force to be reckoned with, and the challenges of change are a common theme in Montgomery’s world.

The 2026 conference invites proposals for research presentations that consider the theme of change in L.M. Montgomery’s works and world. Submissions should engage some aspect of this force in Montgomery’s life, creative work, life-writing, or legacy. Possible topics include, but are not limited, to:

Changes in society during Montgomery’s lifetime
Changes to physical environments affected by Montgomery’s legacy
Paradigm shifts in Montgomery’s fiction or life writing: changes in dreams, life trajectories, expectations, hopes, assumptions, etc
Changes to Montgomery’s work due to self-editing, whether to her fiction or her journals
Montgomery’s own dislike of change as presented in her journals and/or characters
How Montgomery’s fictional characters deal with or feel about change
Changes in Montgomery’s style, tone, subject matter, and voice over her career, whether in her fiction, life writing, or poetry
Changes to the critical responses to Montgomery’s work over time—how have scholars studied or perceived Montgomery’s work?
Changes to the ways readers (and viewers) find, accept, reject, engage with, and generally consume Montgomery texts.
Changes made to Montgomery’s work in translation or adaptation, particularly considering the role of equality/diversity/inclusion
Ways in which Montgomery’s works speak to current changes in aspects of our own lives, from personal circumstances to global events such as war, pandemic, the development of AI
The agency involved in changing one’s environment or circumstances in Montgomery’s fiction or life writing
Changes in the natural world – seasons, destructive forces, or the effects of time as presented in Montgomery’s fiction, life writing, or legacy
Climate change through the lens of Montgomery’s work and legacy
Affective change: what emotions/ somatic experiences/ interconnections does Montgomery render in her writing? Does change hurt or heal?

L.M. Montgomery and Change

The L.M. Montgomery Institute’s
17th Biennial International Conference

L.M. Montgomery Institute, University of Prince Edward Island

June 24–28, 2026