Introduction: Loitering On

In late October 2017, the profoundly sad news of Ross Chambers's death reached Australia. Friends and colleagues scattered around the globe mourned the loss of a person of great 'humanity and humility', and one of the most brilliant minds in French studies, comparative literature, cultural studies and beyond. Obituaries and homages soon followed. A group of Ross Chambers's closest friends, led by University of Michigan's Professor David Caron, assembled a collection of personal tributes now published in the Romanic Review. This book project and the Romanic Review collection developed in parallel and, as will be discussed further below, some of the authors contributed to both. Our endeavour, however, is different from the Romanic Review's, notably insofar as it seeks to incorporate a broader academic engagement with Ross's work, not only mourning his passing but also suggesting ways in which it can live with and extend us and in which we can seek to extend it and take it on our journeys forwards.