The International Network for the Study of Lyric (INSL) is a free nonprofit association of scholars interested in the study of the theory of poetry.

Under the initiative of prof. Ralph Mueller, the network was officially founded in October 2015 at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland. The impetus for the foundation of INSL was the perception that as a research field, the theory of poetry (or theory of the lyric) is unduly fragmented along linguistic, national and disciplinary lines. Consequently INSL aims to foster international discussion and exchange across different literary traditions and languages, sharing and distributing information and scholarly work on the theory of poetry.

The INSL executive board currently consists of six members:

  • Heather Dubrow, Fordham University, New York, USA (president)
  • Jan Baetens, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium
  • Ardis Butterfield, Yale University, USA
  • Gustavo Guerrero, Paris-Cergy, France
  • Hans Kristian Rustad, University of Oslo, Norway
  • Kirsten A. Stirling, University of Lausanne, Switzerland.

Advisory Board
Ralph Mueller, University of Freiburg, Switzerland.
Antonio Rodriguez, University of Lausanne, Switzerland.
William Waters, Boston University, USA.

Previous presidents
2015-2019 : Ralph Mueller, Prof. of German literature, University of Freiburg, Switzerland
2019-2021: Antonio Rodriguez, Prof. of French literature, University of Lausanne, Switzerland.