CFP Star Wars 50 Years: Pasts, Presents, and Futures (11/1/2026; Leicester, UK 5/21-22/2027)

Here's the information on yet another conference set to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Star Wars in 1977. 

Star Wars 50 Years: Pasts, Presents, and Futures

deadline for submissions:
November 1, 2026

full name / name of organization:
University of Leicester

contact email:
sw-conf-50@leicester.ac.uk

source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/node/106328

Conference Call for Papers

The Star Wars 50 Years academic conference will be held by the University of Leicester and the Leverhulme Centre for Humanity and Space at Space Park Leicester on 21-22 May 2027 in anticipation of the 50th anniversary of the original release of the film on 25 May 1977 in the U.S. We are now inviting proposals for conference presentations.

Conference Organisers:

Xiyuan Gao, PhD Candidate - Conference Director
Dr David Christopher - Conference Co-Director
Dr James Aitcheson - Leverhulme Centre Partner
Dr Tara Smith - Leverhulme Centre Partner
Helen Bruce, PhD Candidate - Director, Festival of Media Stories



Overview

Star Wars: A New Hope was first released in the United States on 25 May 1977, inaugurating a screen franchise whose cultural, industrial, and imaginative afterlives now span half a century. The Star Wars 50 Years Conference will mark the anniversary by bringing together scholars, researchers, practitioners, archivists, and fans at the Leverhulme Centre for Humanity and Space in Leicester contiguous with The National Space Centre.

The Centre hosts numerous Star Wars-themed public events throughout the year, and we will be excited to follow their developing programme with an eye to connecting their events and screenings to the conference.

Leicester and Leicestershire occupy a distinctive place in the history of Star Wars in the UK. Leicestershire was home to Palitoy, the toy company that held the coveted manufacturing contract in the UK during the original trilogy era.

Palitoy’s Star Wars figures, vehicles, packaging, and playsets remain central to British collecting cultures and to the material memory of the franchise, linking Leicestershire to the commercial and affective history of Star Wars childhoods, fandom, and merchandising. Indeed, Matt Holt’s upcoming documentary In a Landfill Far, Far Away (Spoon Jar Films) seeks to discover the so-called ‘lost toys’ from the Palitoy factory putatively buried somewhere in Leicestershire which is sure to create a scholarly buzz: 'Filmmaker unearths legend of buried Star Wars toys'.

Leicestershire’s connection to the franchise is also embodied in personnel history. The late Jeremy Bulloch, born in Market Harborough, was the first actor to perform Boba Fett in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, helping to create one of the most enduring and enigmatic figures in Star Wars. His association with Boba Fett further situates Leicestershire within the lived and performed history of Star Wars, extending the county’s relevance beyond merchandising and into questions of screen performance, character embodiment, cult stardom, and fan memory. Gareth Edwards, director of Rogue One also calls Nuneaton home.

More broadly, the franchise has launched or fostered the careers of myriad British performers from Sir Alec Guinness and Peter Cushing though to John Boyega, Felicity Jones, and Daisy Ridley. And so much of Lucas’s production efforts were located at various studios and locations across the UK including locations in Leicestershire.

Star Wars 50 Years invites contributors to reflect on the franchise’s pasts, presents, and futures, especially with regard to the participation of UK production inputs or international franchise phenomena, but not necessarily limited by this parameter as such. The conference welcomes papers on Star Wars across film, television, animation, games, publishing, merchandising, fan communities, transmedia storytelling, race, gender, class, politics, technology, nostalgia, and global reception, etc.

By gathering in Leicester, the conference asks not only what Star Wars has meant over the past fifty years, but also how particular places, objects, performances, institutions, and communities have shaped the franchise’s meanings across the UK and beyond.



Topics of Interest

We welcome papers on, but not limited to, the following research topics:

• Star Wars histories, legacies, and cultural memory.
• Directors, writers, producers, showrunners, designers, performers, and other creative workers across the franchise.
• Star Wars and transmedia storytelling across film, television, animation, novels, comics, games, audio, toys, and digital platforms.
• Expanded universes, canon, continuity, retconning, and the relationship between Legends and Disney-era canon.
• Star Wars television and Disney+ distribution.
• Star Wars animation (The Clone Wars, Rebels, and more recent animated projects).
• Star Wars games, interactive storytelling, virtual worlds, and player agency.
• Ethnicity, class, disability, age, and embodiment in Star Wars.
• Feminism, female characters, creators, audiences, and female-led fan practices.
• Masculinity, fatherhood, family, lineage, inheritance, and dynastic storytelling.
• Queer readings, slash fandom, transformative works, and alternative affective attachments.
• Stardom, performance, voice acting, physical performance, puppetry, motion capture, and creature performance.
• Practical effects, digital effects, CGI, sound design, editing, and the aesthetics of technological change.
• John Williams, musical themes, soundscapes, voice, and sonic memory.
• Merchandising, toys, collecting, licensing, branding, and commercial culture.
• Museums, exhibitions, archives, private collections, fan collections, and the preservation of Star Wars objects.
• Global Star Wars: international reception, translation, dubbing, subtitling, censorship, distribution, and localisation.
• Fandom, fanfiction, fan art, cosplay, fan films, podcasts, conventions, online communities, and platform cultures.
• Fan controversy, anti-fandom, canon disputes, toxicity, moderation, inclusion, and community governance.
• Nostalgia, childhood, memory, intergenerational spectatorship, collecting, and affect.
• Science, space travel, astronomy, robotics, artificial intelligence, and the relationship between Star Wars and public science imagination.
• Theme parks, immersive experiences, live events, exhibitions, tourism, and commercialised fan participation.
• Archives, lost materials, production histories, oral histories, memory work, and fan-led preservation.
• The future of Star Wars: franchise fatigue, renewal, legacy, and new audiences.

The conference is scheduled to be on-site and in-person. The submission of remote presentation proposals will be considered only under specific mitigating circumstances.



Submission Details

Individual Papers

The individual proposal shall include the following information, all in the same document:A title.
An abstract (maximum 300 words) for a 15-20-minute presentation.
Speaker’s short biography (maximum 150 words), including affiliation.
Speaker’s email address.

Pre-constituted Panels

The panel proposal shall include the following information, all in the same document:A panel title.
All individual abstracts (maximum 300 words each).
All speakers’ short biographies (maximum 150 words each), including their affiliation and email address.
If you wish to designate a panel chair, please indicate this in the panel proposal. Otherwise, the committee will assign one for you.

To submit, please email your proposal as an attachment (Word file preferred) to sw-conf-50@leicester.ac.uk by 1-November-2026. Please clearly state in the email subject either “Star Wars 50 Years individual proposal” or “Star Wars 50 Years panel proposal”.

Notification of accepted papers and panel proposals will be returned on or before 31st January 2027.



Conference Address

Space Park Leicester
Space City, 92 Corporation Rd, Leicester
Postcode: LE4 5SP



Contact

If you have any queries regarding the conference, please email conference director Xiyuan Gao (xg92@leicester.ac.uk) or co-director Dr David Christopher (dc435@leicester.ac.uk).

General enquiries: sw-conf-50@leicester.ac.uk

CFP “Feel the Force”: The first 50 years of Star Wars (12/31/2026; PopCRN Online 5/4-5/2027)

“Feel the Force”: The first 50 years of Star Wars 4-5 May 2027

deadline for submissions:
December 31, 2026

full name / name of organization:
PopCRN - The Popular Culture Research Network

contact email:
popcrn@une.edu.au

source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2026/03/18/%E2%80%9Cfeel-the-force%E2%80%9D-the-first-50-years-of-star-wars-4-5-may-2027


“Feel the Force”: The first 50 years of Star Wars

A PopCRN Conference

Join us for a free virtual conference exploring the Star Wars universe and its enduring cultural impact to be held online from 4th-5th May 2027.

From a surprise blockbuster to a galactic empire of multimedia dominance, Star Wars has fundamentally reshaped popular culture, spawned generations of devoted fans, and continues to spark passionate debates about sequels, prequels, spinoffs, and what George Lucas really meant to say. Is Jar Jar Binks a Sith Lord? Are the Ewoks cute and cuddly? Which is the best trilogy? And what order should you watch them in? We want to hear all the academic debates from across the galaxy!

We welcome both individual papers, panels and round table discussions from researchers across the academic spectrum and encourage papers from academic padawans, postgraduate researchers and early career researchers. Selected papers will have the opportunity to be published in a planned book.

To whet your appetite, we have provided some topics below. We will also accept topics beyond this scope:

• "I find your lack of faith disturbing" – Fandom, canon wars, and the discourse around Disney's sequel trilogy.
• "These are not the droids you're looking for" – The role of robots, androids and AI in Star Wars narratives and our contemporary moment.
• "I am your father" – Paternity, family structures and generational trauma in the Skywalker saga.
• "Do or do not, there is no try" – Yoda, philosophy, and wisdom.
• "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away" – Nostalgia, retrofuturism and the invention of the past.
• "The Force will be with you, always" – Spirituality, religion and mythology.
• "Laugh it up, fuzzball" – Comedy, camp and levity.
• "That's no moon" – Scale, technology and the sublime in science fiction cinema.
• "I love you." "I know." – Romantic narratives and toxic masculinity in space opera.
• "The garbage'll do!" – Consumption, waste and sustainability in Star Wars merchandising.
• "This is the way" – Community, belonging and parasocial relationships in television fandom.
• The Imperial March – Empire, corruption and war in the Star Wars universe.
• "The Resistance will rise" – Class struggle, labour and economic systems in Star Wars worldbuilding.
• "Strike me down, and I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine" – Death, resurrection and immortality narratives.
• "I'm just a simple man trying to make my way in the universe" – Labour, precarity and the gig economy in space.
• "That's no way to treat a lady!" – Manners, civility and social codes across species and cultures.

Please email inquiries to popcrn@une.edu.au

Website: www.popcrn.org

Please submit abstracts (200 words) and author details via our online portal By 31st December 2026.

Notification of abstract acceptance is 31st January 2027.

Registration is free. The conference is welcoming of early career researchers, postgraduates, Indigenous scholars, people with diverse identities and other Star Wars enthusiasts.

You can also submit via the QR code below or through the URLs below

Submit here - https://unesurveys.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8jjzaWnS732QsFE

Register here - https://unesurveys.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_7TGWUYZidtlxVLU

CFP Jane Austen Now Edited Collection (8/31/2026)

Of potential interest:

Jane Austen Now - Edited Collection

deadline for submissions:
August 31, 2026

full name / name of organization:
Robert Morris University

contact email:
pamboukian@rmu.edu

source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2026/04/21/jane-austen-now-edited-collection

The year 2025 marked the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth, yet Austen seems to be only increasing in cultural relevance on a global scale. This edited collection explores new Jane Austen-related texts – including films, streaming series, prequel/ sequel novels, graphic adaptations etc. - of the twenty-first century, including…

• Representing Jane Austen and her family ex. Miss Austen, Miss Austen Regrets
• Rebooting Jane Austen’s works in new ways ex. Death Comes to Pemberley, Longbourne, The Other Bennet Sister
• Adapting Jane Austen’s works for a global audience ex. Bride & Prejudice, Aisha
• Exploring Janeites or Jane Austen fandom ex. Lost in Austen, Jane Austen Book Club
• Online fan communities, podcasts, YouTube channels, cookbooks, or fan fiction,
• Traveling to Austen destinations or creating Austen-inspired travel experiences in the UK and globally.

How does this very British author speak to the cultural hybridity of a modern global marketplace? How does the quiet life a Regency countrywoman generate political and cultural commentary regarding modern gender, masculinity, femininity, courtship, and marriage? How does a woman who wrote pen-and-ink manuscripts on a small side table inspire self-sustaining, international communities of readers, fans, and devotees using a variety of media? What is the relevance and appeal of Jane Austen now?

Submit: Abstract: 350-500 word & Bio: 1-2 pages incl. affiliations, publications/ conferences and other qualifications relevant to the topic.



Timeline: Abstracts due August 31, 2026/ Final essays due (if accepted) June 2027

Final essays: approx. 8 000 – 10 000 words using Chicago style with endnotes

Notes: Authors are responsible for obtaining any permissions needed for copyrighted material in the final essays, including licensing costs if any. This collection is in talks with a university press but is not under contract at this time.

Email questions or submit abstracts: Sylvia A. Pamboukian at Pamboukian@rmu.edu



Last updated April 23, 2026

CFP Star Wars at 50: Forces, Forms, Legacies (12/1/2026; Durham University 5/7/2027)

Star Wars at 50: Forces, Forms, Legacies

deadline for submissions:
December 1, 2026

full name / name of organization:
Dr Sam Thomas / Durham University

contact email:
samuel.thomas@durham.ac.uk

source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2026/05/01/star-wars-at-50-forces-forms-legacies

2027 marks the 50th anniversary of the film now generally known as Episode IV: A New Hope, the first instalment in the hugely successful Star Wars franchise created by George Lucas. As beloved as it is divisive, Star Wars now straddles multiple decades and generations while proliferating across narrative media (novels, comics, games, animation, TV). It provides a series of compelling case studies in the relationship between creativity and commerce, from the foundation of Lucasfilm during the New Hollywood period to the 21st century Disney-era, and it has developed via a complex interplay between cutting-edge technological innovation, nostalgia, and mythmaking. It is both shaped by and responsive to historical and political contexts ranging from the Vietnam War to 9/11. With Lucas famously drawing on an eclectic range of cinematic and intellectual influences (Kurosawa, the Western, Saturday serials, Joseph Campbell, Buddhism, and more), the influence that Star Wars itself now exerts on contemporary culture is as wide as it is deep. Star Wars, as Obi-Wan says of the Force, “binds us and penetrates us.” At the same time, however, and with some important exceptions, academic discussion of Star Wars has often relied on a rather narrow set of critical frameworks and has tended to neglect the actual texts of the franchise and their place in cultural history. As the blockbuster of blockbusters reaches its half century, it is therefore the ideal moment to reflect anew on Star Wars and its manifold legacies.

When and where?

The conference will take place on Friday May 7th 2027 at Durham University. This will be followed by an exciting series of public events and activities at the Glasshouse concert venue in Gateshead across May 8th and 9th. Details tbc. Speakers and attendees at the conference are welcome (and indeed encouraged) to stay for the weekend! Presenting online will also be an option (although these slots will be limited).

Texts and topics

Presentations are sought on any Star Wars media – from the films of the original trilogy to Knights of the Old Republic to Andor.

Topics covered may include (but are by no means limited to) the following:

• Star Wars in history and Star Wars as history.
• Star Wars and industrial change / allegory / crisis.
• The directors, producers, writers, showrunners, game designers etc who have shaped the franchise.
• Star Wars and genre.
• Star Wars and the nature of transmedial storytelling.
• Star Wars, stardom, and performance.
• Puppets, costumes, masks.
• The distinction between the ‘practical’ and the ‘digital’.
• The significance of race, gender, sexuality, class, disability, and indigeneity in making and interpreting the franchise.
• Star Wars and critical theory (especially Jameson).
• Star Wars geographies (landscapes, locations, frontiers, cities, and so on).
• Star Wars and extractivism.
• Star Wars and neurodiversity.
• The relationship between scholarship and fandom.

Last updated May 7, 2026

CFP Adaptation and Terry Pratchett--Essay Collection (10/31/2025)

Adaptation and Terry Pratchett--Essay Collection

deadline for submissions:
October 31, 2025

full name / name of organization:
Anne Hiebert Alton & William C. Spruiell

contact email:
anne.hiebert.alton@cmich.edu

source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2025/06/03/adaptation-and-terry-pratchett-essay-collection

We invite proposals for an edited collection of essays on Adaptation and the work of Terry Pratchett. The book proposal will be submitted to Palgrave Macmillan or Bloomsbury Academic’s Perspectives on Fantasy series in the Spring of 2026.

Perhaps best known for his 41-book Discworld series, Terry Pratchett was also the author of numerous other works of fantasy and science fiction. While enormously popular during his lifetime, since his premature death in 2015 his works have only grown in critical statue, with several scholarly articles, books and book chapters, and collections of essays appearing in the last decade.[1] However, none have paid extensive attention to the multitude of adaptations of Pratchett’s works. Spanning areas including drama, film (animated, live-action, and CGI), spoken word recordings and performances, graphic and musical arts, and games (video, RPG, and board), these many and varied adaptations embody Linda Hutcheon’s notion of remediated narrative: the “repetition without replication” that brings together “the comfort of ritual and recognition with the delight of surprise and novelty” (7, 173).[2]

Ideally this volume will include essays that discuss a variety of types of adaptations, as well as showcase not only Pratchett’s Discworld novels but also his other works, including Nation, the Johnny Maxwell series, the Bromeliad trilogy, The Carpet People, various short stories, and perhaps Good Omens. Topics might focus on such areas including, but not limited to, the following:

Theoretical issues: 

• Adaptation, Interdisciplinarity, Reception, Inter-semiotic translation, etc.Is Pratchett’s work intrinsically adaptable? Is there something about it that makes it particularly appealing to experience through adaptation?
• Are some Pratchett works more adaptable than others?
• Given that adaptation necessarily involves change, are there patterned aspects or common threads for what Pratchett adaptations focus on (fidelity debates aside), regardless of mode?
• How do Pratchett adaptations work? How might they change the experience of the source text, and through that the ground on which any further interpretation is based?

Modes 

•  How do the potentials of different forms/modalities (or languages) interact with Pratchett’s texts – do they encourage adaptation into some forms at the expense of others? Do they affect the choice of what to adapt beyond what the economics of sales figures would suggest?
• What characteristics of Pratchett’s texts pose particular difficulties or challenges for adaptation, or (conversely) enable interestingly expanded possibilities for meaning in the new form?
• How do results from particular adaptations vary between modes/forms?

Roles of participants

• What kinds of roles do various participants in Pratchett adaptations – the initial author, the adaptor(s), the performer(s), the designer(s), the collaborator(s), etc. – play?
• What contributions might or should they make or be expected to make?

Treatments of specific source texts and their adaptations

• How are Pratchett’s works transformed through adaptation? What happens to the source text’s story as a result of adaptation?
• What are some of the contrasts between various adaptations of the same source text – e.g. Guards! Guards! comic book vs. stage play vs. television series vs. game(s); or The Amazing Maurice musical vs. CGI film; or Small Gods graphic novel vs. BBC radio drama vs. instrumental music rendering – into different modes, and why/how do these matter?
• If, as Sanders suggests, adaptations “highlight often perplexing gaps, absences and silences within the original” (126), what gaps can be identified in Pratchett adaptations and how do various adaptations engage with these gaps?[3]

Deadlines/Timeline: Proposals of a maximum of 500 words, along with brief author bios, should be sent by Friday 31 October 2025 to Professors Anne Hiebert Alton and William C. Spruiell via email at anne.hiebert.alton@cmich.edu. Notification of acceptance will be sent by 31 December 2025. Please send any questions to the same address.



[1] In addition to numerous articles, other published work includes Daniel Lüthi’s monograph Mapping a Sense of Humor: Narrative and Space in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld Novels (2023); book chapters in Caroline Webb’s Fantasy and the Real World in British Children’s Literature (2015) and Andrew Rayment’s excellent Fantasy, Politics, Postmodernity: Pratchett, Pullman, Miéville and Stories of the Eye (2014); and at least six collections of essays: Discworld and the Disciplines: Critical Approaches to the Terry Pratchett Works (ed. Anne Hiebert Alton and William C. Spruiell, 2014); Philosophy and Terry Pratchett (ed. Jacob Held and James South, 2014); Discworld and Philosophy: Reality is Not What It Seems (ed. Nicholas Michaud, 2016); Terry Pratchett's Narrative Worlds: From Giant Turtles to Small Gods (ed. Marion Rana, 2018); Terry Pratchett’s Ethical Worlds: Essays on Identity and Narrative in Discworld and Beyond (ed. Kristin Noone and Emily Lavin Leverett, 2020); and Power and Society in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld: Building a Fantasy Civilization (ed. Justine Breton, 2025).

[2] Linda Hutcheon, A Theory of Adaptation, 2nd ed., Routledge, 2013.

[3] Julie Sanders, Adaptation and Appropriation, 2nd ed., Routledge, 2016.



Last updated June 8, 2025

CFP NeMLA 2026 Panel Session: The Murder and Its Afterlife: Regenerating the Wicked Witch (9/30/2025; Pittsburgh 3/5-8/2025)

NeMLA 2026 Panel Session: The Murder and Its Afterlife: Regenerating the Wicked Witch

deadline for submissions:
September 30, 2025

full name / name of organization:
Noah Gallego, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

contact email:
noahrgallego@gmail.com

source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2025/06/12/nemla-2026-panel-session-the-murder-and-its-afterlife-regenerating-the-wicked-witch

send submissions to https://cfplist.com/nemla/Home/S/21574.

Conference dates: March 5-8, 2026 in Pittsburgh, PA

Deadline for abstracts: September 30, 2025

Contact panel chair for inquiries: Noah Gallego @noahrgallego@gmail.com



Upon the release of his beloved children’s classic, The Wizard of Oz (1900), L. Frank Baum introduced the masses to one of the most enduring villains of American literature: the Wicked Witch of the West. While she played a marginal role in the original book, Victor Fleming’s 1939 movie adaptation rebranded her as the main antagonist who has become an icon in western popular culture, responsible for traumatizing generations of young children. Such was the impact and intrigue of the Wicked Witch that American novelist Gregory Maguire composed a prequel speculating her origin story as the greenified, Dorothy-hating crone. In the spirit of the Broadway musical inspired by Maguire’s novel finally being adapted to the silver screen, this panel seeks to capitalize on “Wicked-mania” and solicit papers that will explore the Witch’s legacy and regeneration throughout film and beyond. Since her debut over a century ago, there have been dozens of under-examined dramatic representations beyond The Wizard of Oz and Wicked that this panel invites scholars to investigate. While on the surface, the Wicked Witch is a horror to behold, this panel seeks to uncover the even more horrific implications of her character. Scholars have claimed her and her Winkie army to be analogs of the Wehrmacht (MacDonnell 1990), a mestiza figure (McCabe 2008), a queer woman (Wolf 2008), and even a monstrous vegan (Sebastian 2022). Interested parties are welcome to expand on these themes as well as initiate new critical discourses as they pertain to the Wicked Witch. Prospective candidates are welcome, but not required, to consider representations of the witch outside of Wicked and The Wizard of Oz and examine other portrayals as in The Wiz (1974), the recovered 1976 Sesame Street episode, season 3 of Once Upon a Time (2013-14), and the film, Oz the Great and Powerful (2013).

In the spirit of the recent cinematic adaptation of the Broadway megamusical Wicked (2024) and its forthcoming companion film Wicked: For Good (2025), this session invites scholars from across the disciplines to submit proposals critically exploring the various iterations of L. Frank Baum’s infamous Wicked Witch of the West throughout the media since the first adaptations of the Oz franchise were released in the early twentieth century. Interested parties are welcome to probe Maguire’s revisionist work on which the musical is based in addition to other under-examined productions featuring the green-skinned menace. Inquiries may consider themes such as: gender, sexuality, queerness, monstrosity, disability, race, ecocriticism, and class.



Last updated June 12, 2025

CFP War in Fantasy (8/31/2025; British Fantasy Society Journal)

 

War in Fantasy

deadline for submissions: 

August 31, 2025

full name / name of organization: 

British Fantasy Society

contact email: 

bfsjournal@britishfantasysociety.org

source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2025/04/07/war-in-fantasy.

In this special issue of the BFS (British Fantasy Society) Journal we take a hard look at War in Fantasy. Conflict, from skirmishes to mass battles, tavern brawls to planet-wide apocalypses, is a staple of Fantasy: The Battle of the Five Armies in The Hobbit, The Last Battle in Narnia, The War in Heaven by Charles Williams, and Lyra Belacqua’s fight against death and the consciousness-stifling strictures of the Magisterium, are a few examples. In Warhammer 40K, which expanded the original Fantasy table-top wargame into the far future, we learn ‘in the grim darkness of the far future there is only war.’ There are very few large-scale Fantasy texts that do not acknowledge the impact of war in some way, whether through invasion, siege, massacre, colonisation, spoils of war, legacy, or trauma. Protagonists and places are scarred by it. Narratives are often prominently ante-, para-, or postbellum. Powerful weapons – key to victory or defeat, depending on whose hands they fall into – their acquisition and mastery, are the MacGuffins that drive plot. But does the prevalence of conflict in Fantasy normalise violence and even perpetuate it, or does it offer a useful mirror, allowing us to have a perspective on real-world conflict, narrativize trauma and learn to overcome it? Articles on any of these aspects are welcome. Here are some suggestions:

• The influence of the First World War on Tolkien’s Middle Earth.
• Early depictions of war in taproot texts such as Beowulf.
• Changing depictions of warfare in 21st Century Fantasy.
• Warfare between the human and the other-than-human.
• Hidden, supernatural wars.
• The depiction of non-western cultures in Fantasy warfare.
• Portrayal of marginal figures in warfare, e.g., scavengers; servants; animals.
• The impact of warfare on urban and rural settings in Fantasy.
• Magic in warfare.
• Historical influences on depictions of warfare in Fantasy, e.g. armour, weaponry, tactics.
• Parleys, peace treaties, truces, ceasefires, and the cessation of conflict.
• The aftermath of war in Fantasy texts.
• Valkyries, Morrigans, and other psychopompic figures in warfare.
• Visions in conflict and haunted battlefields.

Submissions should be clearly titled as follows: SURNAME_TITLE_BFSJOURNAL_CFP_WINTER2025. A 200-word abstract and 100-word author bio should be included. Work needs to original, previously unpublished, and referenced using the Harvard author/date system. The editor retains the right to edit any submission, and contributors must be willing to address any editorial suggestions within good time. Publication is expected December 2025.

• Deadline for ABSTRACTS: 31st August 2025.
• Deadline for ARTICLES (if abstract is accepted): 31st October 2025.
• Send to The Editor: bfsjournal@britishfantasysociety.org
• For submission guidelines: https://britishfantasysociety.org/get-in-touch/bfs-journal/

Last updated April 10, 2025

CFP Before, After and Beyond: Prequels and Sequels in Literature, Arts and Culture (1/31/2025)

 

Call for Papers: ‘Before, After and Beyond: Prequels and Sequels in Literature, Arts and Culture’

deadline for submissions: 

January 31, 2025

full name / name of organization: 

Journal of Adaptation in Film & Performance

contact email: 

marta.minier@southwales.ac.uk

source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2024/11/05/call-for-papers-%E2%80%98before-after-and-beyond-prequels-and-sequels-in-literature-arts-and. 

Call for Papers: ‘Before, After and Beyond: Prequels and Sequels in Literature, Arts and Culture’

A Special Issue of Journal of Adaptation in Film & Performance

View the full call here>>

https://www.intellectbooks.com/journal-of-adaptation-in-film-performance#call-for-papers

Edited by Annamária Fábián and Márta Minier

Proposals for scholarly articles, practitioners’ perspective essays and practitioner interviews are warmly invited for the upcoming special issue of the Journal of Adaptation in Film & Performance. This thematic issue will address adapting and recreating various forms of text into various modes of media through enhancing or challenging the concept of temporal and spatial continuity, i.e. through prequels and sequels.

Adaptation theory has historically tended to exclude prequels and sequels from its scope; they were treated as marginal or at least separate from ‘regular’ adaptations  mainly because, as Linda Hutcheon (2006) pinpoints, building on Marjorie Garber (2003), “[t]here is a difference between never wanting a story to end […] and wanting to retell the same story over and over in different ways”. Yet, it has become apparent that prequels and sequels are here to stay, and they indeed seem to have a unique potential in retelling and reinterpreting stories as well as repositioning them in a new temporal and/or spatial framework. Whether it is the recontextualization of canonical/classical cultural content in (re)defined temporalities or the ever-renewing waves of complex storyverses through multiple, never-ending blockbuster series and spinoffs on various streaming platforms, digging for those new beginnings and not wanting a story to end seem to impress with unprecedented popularity and a potential to provide yet more layers to telling the same stories over and over again.

We welcome abstracts of cca 300 words accompanied by a biographical note and resonating with one or more of the following:

• the story as continuum

• various works begun and continued in multimedial forms

• the challenges of beginning and ending narratives

• the theory of preceding and following 

• temporal and spatial repositioning/reframing of various narratives

• classics reframed

• perspectives on transmedia universes; storyverses

• backstories and spinoffs

• typologies and theories of prequels and sequels

• prequels, sequels and hypertextuality

• history and storylines challenged and disrupted

• prequels and sequels and/as anachronisms

• convergence cultures as platform of prequels and sequels

• prequels and sequels in the context of paratextuality

Authors are encouraged to submit their latest research findings (traditional research articles, practitioners’ perspectives contributions and interview-articles) aligned with the topics listed above – the list is to serve as a guideline and food for thought only. We welcome topics embracing other ideas connected to prequels and sequels in any media and in any artform in the most general sense.

Important Dates:

Deadline for submitting abstracts: 31 January 2025

Notification of acceptance: 15 February 2025

Deadline for submitting papers: 2 June 2025

Double-blind peer-reviewing process over summer 2025

Abstracts should be sent to both the editors:

fabian.annamaria@btk.elte.hu and marta.minier@southwales.ac.uk

In the subject line, please write “prequel_sequel_special_issue_Name_Title”

If you have any questions regarding the issue, please don’t hesitate to contact the editors.

categories

fan studies and fandom

film and television

journals and collections of essays

popular culture

Last updated November 8, 2024

CFP The Fantastic for Children - Children in the Fantastic Symposium (3/15/2024; Germany 5/3-5/2024)

The Fantastic for Children - Children in the Fantastic

deadline for submissions: March 15, 2024

full name / name of organization: Inklings Society for Literature and Aesthetics e.V.

contact email: 2024-symposium@inklings-symposium.de

source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2023/12/13/the-fantastic-for-children-children-in-the-fantastic

“I write, not for children, but for the child-like, whether they be of five, or fifty, or seventy-five.”
― George MacDonald

It is often easier for child characters to cross boundaries between reality and fantasy worlds, which frequently go unnoticed by adult characters. In fantasy stories, whether in literature or media for an adult or child audience, it is mainly children who discover portals into fantastic worlds. These child protagonists become redeemer figures and symbols of hope and overcome personal and global crises in those worlds, into which they are lured or called.

Examples abound: Alice follows the White Rabbit into Wonderland and antagonises the Red Queen, the Pevensie siblings find their way to Narnia through a wardrobe and defeat the White Witch, Frodo saves the world from the dark forces of Sauron. In J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, the young wizard Harry Potter rescues the Muggle and wizarding world from the seemingly invincible power of Voldemort, while a girl named Lyra becomes a key figure in the salvation of a multiverse in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy. In Michael Ende’s The Neverending Story, it is up to Bastian to save the human imagination, while in J.M. Barrie’s Peter and Wendy childhood imagination manifests spatially in the world of Neverland.

In many narratives, the intuitive entry into fantastic worlds is a privilege and burden of the child characters, a pattern which is also continued in film and series, for instance in the Netflix series Stranger Things. Here, the protagonist Eleven and other child characters fall victim to the Upside Down, vanish into the parallel world and continue to return to it in order to save the frequently clueless adult world from its dark powers.

These fantastic worlds do not only pose danger but are also places of longing for these child characters. Moreover, both adult and child readers want to experience adventures, explore the world with curiosity and pick up courage on the way. They harbour desires, dreams, hopes, develop goals and expectations, which are also reflected in fantasy. Thus, many of these fantastic stories, which fascinate readers, also reflect those topics they deal with in everyday life: the pursuit of familiarity, fellowship, friendship or love. The fantastic accompanies these children on their journey towards adulthood, helps them discovering their true self and hence illuminates a fundamental process of human life.

George MacDonald’s initial quote indicates that the fantastic is neither childish nor exclusively for children, but rather for the child-like of all ages. His fairy tales and fantasy novels also (but not exclusively) inspired the Inklings, predominantly J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. Accordingly, the upcoming symposium takes MacDonald’s 200th birthday as a cue to explore the role of children and childhood in fantasy. We invite contributions investigating the connection between children and the fantastic, including but not limited to the following possible topics:

• the role of the fantastic in the work of the Inklings
• the fantastic in the work of George MacDonald, Lewis Carroll, Edith Nesbit or Lord Dunsany
• Child characters as redeemer figures, (anti-)heroes and antagonists in fantasy, science fiction, horror, animal stories or children’s and young adult literature
• Fantasy and its role in identity formation
• modern retellings of fantastic narratives
• diversity and representation in fantasy
• fantastic narratives as coming-of-age story
• critical discussions of fantasy as escapism
• fantasy and (re-)enchantment
• ethical, philosophical and religious readings of fantastic narratives
• coping and coming to terms with trauma through fantasy
• emotional security, love and friendship in fantastic narratives
• childhood and heroism in fantasy
• fantasy and games, especially tabletop role-playing game

Please send proposals (300–500 words, either in German or English) as well as a short bio to 2024-symposium@inklings-symposium.de. Please use the subject line “Inklings Symposium 2024”. The deadline is 15 March 2024. Presentations at the symposium should be 20 minutes long and a selection of them will be published in the Inklings Yearbook.

Location: Schloss Malberg, Kylltal (https://www.schloss-malberg.de/)
Date: 3 to 5 Mai 2024
Travel Allowance: There will be a small allowance available to speakers for accommodation and travel expenses.
Further information on the Inklings symposium 2024 see https://inklings-gesellschaft.de/symposium-2024/


Last updated February 25, 2024

CFP Sixth Biennial Dr. Henry Armitage Memorial Scholarship Symposium of New Weird Fiction and Lovecraft-Related Research (5/24/2024; Providence, RI 8/15-18.2024)

The Sixth Biennial Dr. Henry Armitage Memorial Scholarship Symposium of New Weird Fiction and Lovecraft-Related Research

NecronomiCon Providence convention in Providence, RI
15-18 August, 2024
Location: Omni Hotel, Providence – Bristol/Kent Room, 3rd floor

Symposium Chairs: Dr. Elena Tchougounova-Paulson, editor of Lovecraftian Proceedings (Hippocampus Press)
Symposium Co-Chair: Prof. Dennis P. Quinn 

CALL FOR PRESENTATION ABSTRACTS:

The Dr. Henry Armitage Memorial Scholarship Symposium seeks Lovecraftian and Weird Fiction related research for the NecronomiCon Providence convention. Providence, RI, August 15-18, 2024

The Lovecraft Arts and Sciences Council (the organizer of NecronomiCon Providence) invites submissions for the upcoming Armitage Symposium, a conference that will be held within the convention. The Symposium is substantially dedicated to the life and works of the Providence-based Weird fiction writer, the father of Cosmic horror, H.P. Lovecraft, but also to his milieu, his literary contemporaries, predecessors and successors in the Weird/horror/Gothic/Neo-Gothic lore. For many decades, Lovecraft’s legacy has been the central topic for challenging discussions, and many prominent scholars have joined in debates, followed by significant textual insights, great literary discoveries, and numerous high-quality academic publications. The Armitage Symposium in 2024 will continue to explore Lovecraft’s works in relation to classic and contemporary Weird fiction, science fiction, other similar genres of horror/Gothic/Neo-Gothic literature, modern philosophy (phenomenology and epistemology), literary theory, linguistics, cultural history and cultural theory, archaeology, ethnography, etc.


Possible topics for 15-minute papers might include:

• Lovecraft’s influence on the American or, broadly, Western literary canon
• Lovecraft and Cosmic mythology
• Lovecraftian Mythos as a cultural phenomenon
• Lovecraft and religion/mysticism, and race/gender studies
• Lovecraft and Eurocentrism: origins and complexities
• Lovecraft’s correspondence as pre-blogging/travelog
• “Arkham House” and its heritage: further discoveries in its archival history
• Horror/Supernatural/Gothic fiction: its origins, historical frames and defining terms
• The works of potent and influential masters such as Dunsany, M.R. James, and Clark Ashton Smith
• Modern literary and cinematic perspectives in Lovecraftiana and the Supernatural
• Women in Lovecraftiana/Weird fiction in the past, present, and future
• Contemporary philosophy of weird, horror, and the supernatural: interpretive approaches

Traditionally, the Armitage Symposium has aimed to foster explorations and disseminations of Lovecraft’s elaborate cosmic mythology, and how this mythology was influenced by, and has come to influence, numerous other fiction writers, historians, art critics, philosophers, archivists, bibliographers of the past and the present. However, all submissions that contribute to interconnecting new linguistic and literary theoretical concepts in academic Lovecraftiana/horror studies are very welcome.

Specifically for the Armitage Symposium, we are particularly interested in submitting works from academics: undergraduates, PhD students, post-graduates, independent scholars, established researchers. Presenters should be prepared to deliver a fifteen to twenty-minute oral presentation, and are invited to submit a manuscript for possible inclusion in the peer-reviewed Lovecraftian Proceedings no. 6.

For consideration, interested scholars should submit an abstract (of around 250-300 words) in Word format along with a short bio (around 100 words) to the symposium chair, Dr Elena Tchougounova-Paulson, at tch.elena15@gmail.com.

The deadline for submissions is May 24, 2024. Early submissions are encouraged.

In addition to these talks, NecronomiCon Providence will also feature numerous traditional panels and presentations, given by many of the top names in Lovecraftian studies and the global Weird Renaissance. For more information on the Armitage Symposium, or the overall convention and the themes to be explored, please, visit our website: necronomicon-providence.com.





About the Symposium:

The Lovecraft Arts and Sciences Council (the organizer of NecronomiCon Providence) hosts the Armitage Symposium to showcase academic works that explore all aspects weird fiction and art, from pop-culture to literature, including the writings and life of globally renowned weird fiction writer, H.P. Lovecraft. Topics of value include the influence of history, architecture, science, and popular culture on the weird fiction genre, as well as the impact that weird and Lovecraftian fiction has had on culture.

In past years, the Armitage Symposium has aimed to foster explorations of Lovecraft’s elaborate cosmic mythology, and how this mythology was influenced by, and has come to influence, numerous other authors and artists before and since. Additionally, we promote all works that foster a greater, critical, and nuanced understanding weird fiction and art (and related science fiction, fantasy, horror, etc.).

Selected talks will be presented together as part of the Armitage Symposium, a mini-conference within the overall convention framework of NecronomiCon Providence, 15-18 August 2024. Presenters will deliver fifteen-minute oral presentations summarizing their thesis, and are invited to submit a brief manuscript for possible inclusion in a proceedings publication.

For more information on the Armitage Symposium, or the overall convention and the themes to be explored, please visit our website: necronomicon-providence.com – where we will post updates and details as they develop over the final weeks leading to the convention. In addition to these talks, NecronomiCon Providence will feature numerous traditional panels and presentations given by many of the top names in the global weird renaissance.

The 2024 CALL FOR PRESENTATION PROPOSALS can be downloaded here: Armitage-Symposium-CFA-2024.pdf

Mythlore for Spring/Summer 2023

The latest issue of Mythlore was recently released. Please support the journal by purchasing a print or digital copy. Ordering information is available from their website at this link.

Mythlore 142 Volume 41, Issue 2

Spring/Summer 2023

Table of Contents

Editorial
— Janet Brennan Croft

Terry Pratchett’s Witches Novels and the Consensus Fantasy Universe: A Feminist Perspective
— Clair Hutchings-Budd

Blood on the Snow, Soot on the Carpet: Belief as Pedagogy in Terry Pratchett’s Hogfather
— Michael A. Moir, Jr.

The Unicorn Trade: Towards a Cultural History of the Mass-market Unicorn
— Timothy Miller

The felix culpa in Tolkien’s Legendarium: A Catalyst for Character and Reader Transformation
— Nathan CJ Hood

The Stolen Gift: Tolkien and the Problem of Suicide
— Martin Lockerd

Mythopoesis in Tennyson’s Idylls of the King
— Rebecca A. Umland

Wizards and Woods: The Environmental Ethics of Tolkien’s Istari
— Kenton L. Sena and Philip J. Vogel

Gollum from Medieval Tragedy to Liberal Tragedy in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings
— Masoud Tadayoni and Mohsen Hanif

Delving Too Greedily: Analyzing Prejudice Against Tolkien’s Dwarves as Historical Bias
— Mitchell T. Dennis and Kenton L. Sena

Notes

• Sentience and Sapience in the One Ring: The Reality of Tolkien’s Master Ring — Larry Burriss
• The One Ring of King Solomon — Giovanni Carmine Costabile
• The Dragon and the Railway Station — Verlyn Flieger

Reviews

• Thinking Queerly: Medievalism, Wizardry, and Neurodiversity in Young Adult Texts by Jes Battis — Marisa Mills
• George MacDonald in the Age of Miracles: Incarnation, Doubt, and Reenchantment by Timothy Larsen — James Hamby
• Harry Potter and the Other: Race, Justice, and Difference in the Wizarding World edited by Sarah Park Dahlen and Ebony Elizabeth Thomas, and Open at the Close: Literary Essays on Harry Potter edited by Cecelia Koncharr Farr — Joseph Rex Young
• The Medieval Mind of C.S. Lewis: How Great Books Shaped a Great Mind by Jason M. Baxter — Josiah Peterson
• Discovering Dune: Essays on Frank Herbert’s Epic Saga edited by Dominic J. Nardi and N. Trevor Brierly — G. Connor Salter
• Mythmaking Across Boundaries edited by Züleyha Çetiner-Öktem — Sarah Beach
• The Lord of the Rings Tarot Deck and Guide by Casey Gilly and Tomás Hijo — Emily E. Auger
• The Map of Wilderland: Ecocritical Reflections on Tolkien’s Myth of Wilderness by Amber Lehning — Maria K. Alberto
• Primitive Mythology (The Masks of God, Volume 1) by Joseph Campbell — Phillip Fitzsimmons
• Superman in Myth and Folklore by Daniel Peretti, and The Mythology of the Superhero by Andrew R. Bahlmann — David Emerson
• Fairy Tales, Myth, and Psychoanalytic Theory: Feminism and Retelling the Tale by Veronica L. Schanoes — John Rosegrant
• The Leadership of C.S. Lewis: Ten Traits to Encourage Change and Growth by Crystal Hurd — Mark-Eliot Finley
• The Gallant Edith Bratt: J.R.R. Tolkien’s Inspiration by Nancy Bunting and Seamus Hamill-Keays — María Fernández Portaencasa
• Nancy-Lou Patterson Reviews Books by and About Dorothy L. Sayers, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, and Others by Nancy-Lou Patterson, edited by Emily E. Auger and Janet Brennan Croft — David Bratman
• The Transcendent Vision of Mythopoeic Fantasy by David S. Hogsette — Douglas A. Anderson
• Tolkien, Enchantment, and Loss: Steps on the Developmental Journey by John Rosegrant — Timothy K. Lenz

Briefly Noted:

• Ithell Colquhuon Taro as Color tarot deck and book by Ithell Colquhoun — Emily E. Auger

CFP James Bond Studies Conference 2023 (5/1/2023; London 6/30-7/1/2023)

James Bond Studies Conference, June 30th-July 1st 2023

deadline for submissions:
May 1, 2023

full name / name of organization:
International Journal of James Bond Studies, University of Roehampton

contact email:
ian.kinane@roehampton.ac.uk


source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2023/03/22/james-bond-studies-conference-june-30th-july-1st-2023

Call for Papers: James Bond Studies Conference

30th June – 1st July 2023

University of Roehampton, London

In association with the Centre for Literature and Inclusion and the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Roehampton, the International Journal of James Bond Studies will host a 2-day international conference on the University’s beautiful parkland campus in South West London.

To celebrate the 70th anniversary of the publication of Ian Fleming’s first James Bond novel, Casino Royale, we invite submissions for panels and individual papers on any aspect of the James Bond phenomenon (Ian Fleming’s original novels and short stories; the James Bond continuation novels; the James Bond film franchise and related media, etc.), although we are especially interested in papers and/or panel presentations on the local-global relationship between Marlow, Buckinghamshire, and London (where many Bond films have been produced and filmed), cultural geography, and global cinema tourism.

Suggested topics may include (but are not limited to):

• James Bond and Marlow, Buckinghamshire, and London
• James Bond and tourism
• James Bond and internationalism
• James Bond, gender, and sexuality
• James Bond, race, and neocolonialism
• James Bond and environmental ethics
• James Bond and political morality
• James Bond and technocracy
• James Bond and #MeToo
• James Bond, “Brexit”, and right-wing nationalism
• The future of James Bond

Prospective contributors are invited to submit a 300-word abstract along with a brief bio note to Dr. Ian Kinane (ian.kinane@roehampton.ac.uk).

Submission Deadline: 1st May 2023. (Applicants can be assured that they will hear back in good time so as to facilitate travel planning etc.)

Following the conference, contributors will be invited to submit their papers to a special issue of the International Journal of James Bond Studies, pending peer review.

This event is open to academics, casual scholars, and fans alike; and you do not have to present in order to attend. Details of how to register will follow the publication of the conference programme.

Expressions of interest and queries can also be addressed to the above email.



Last updated March 24, 2023

CFP NEMLA 2023 "The Classics Take Centerstage: Theatrical Adaptations of Ancient Histories and Myths" (9/30/2022)

NEMLA 2023 "The Classics Take Centerstage: Theatrical Adaptations of Ancient Histories and Myths"

source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2022/06/15/nemla-2023-the-classics-take-centerstage-theatrical-adaptations-of-ancient-histories

deadline for submissions:
September 30, 2022

full name / name of organization:
Charles Firestone East, Columbia University

contact email:
cfe2107@columbia.edu



In celebration of the off-Broadway début of The Tyrannicides, the first ever full theatrical adaptation of the story as told in Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War, this roundtable calls for a discussion of theatrical and cinematic (re)tellings of classical histories and myths. As The Tyrannicides makes its audience confront the tragic events that eventually led to the foundation of democracy in the West, a larger history set against a more personal story of romance that dissects homoeroticism and pederasty in ancient Greece, the works in discussion at this roundtable will highlight the enduring relevance of these classical stories to the contemporary circumstances of our present — be it for their social, historical, cultural, or other significance. With a very open definition of what counts as “classical” and “modern,” this roundtable welcomes proposals from scholars who come from a variety of backgrounds and who work with various canons (i.e. both classicists who work primarily with the original tellings of these stories and modernists whose expertise lies more in their (re)tellings). Preference will be given to proposals that highlight specifically some aspect of enduring relevance that make their proposed history’s retelling and commentaries pertinent in debates ongoing in contemporary society. Nonetheless, proposals might also treat the very act of adaption, focusing on the shift in cultural norms from antiquity to the present and the particular challenges of reframing those stories for a contemporary audience.


Last updated June 16, 2022

CFC Countdown to Hallmark Collection (7/15/2022)

This is a neat idea:

Call for Chapters: Countdown to Hallmark

Source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2022/04/04/call-for-chapters-countdown-to-hallmark

deadline for submissions:
July 15, 2022

full name / name of organization:
Carlen Lavigne / Red Deer Polytechnic

contact email:
carlen.lavigne@rdpolytech.ca



Since launching its hugely popular “Countdown to Christmas” made-for-TV movie series in 2009, Hallmark has expanded its offerings of American small-town romances to include Valentine’s Day, Easter, Thanksgiving, New Year’s, and Hanukkah, as well as winter, spring, summer, fall, and “Christmas in July.” Dozens of original films are planned and shot each year, often in Canadian locations such as Vancouver and Ottawa. These now-year-round productions are formulaic, heteronormative, Christian, and overwhelmingly white—and they have been undeniably commercially successful, rocketing Hallmark to cable success and spawning imitations across multiple platforms.

Contributions are invited for this multinational, multidisciplinary collection of essays studying Hallmark Channel movies and Hallmark’s current dominance in the North American media landscape. The collection is intended as part of the Routledge Advances in Popular Culture Studies series. Topics explored may include, but are not limited to:

• Christian markers, secular tensions, and “inclusivity” (e.g. Hanukkah films)
• Heteronormative patterns and/or queer influences
• Racial diversity and/or BIPOC erasure
• Disability narratives and/or disability erasure
• Parenthood and challenges or reinforcements of nuclear family structures
• Evangelical Christianity and “Boycott Hallmark” movements
• Nostalgic casting (e.g. sitcom stars from the '80s and '90s)
• Urban and rural—images and myths of the big city vs. small-town America
• Capitalism, labour, and women’s careers
• The Hallmark script formula and the romance genre
• Jane Austen and other literary influences
• Escapism and formula TV during COVID or other disaster times
• Cross-promotion (e.g. Hallmark greeting cards, sweaters, tie-in novels)
• Comparisons between Hallmark productions and competitors such as Netflix and Lifetime

Submit an abstract of 250-400 words and a short bio to Dr. Carlen Lavigne (carlen.lavigne@rdpolytech.ca) by July 15, 2022. Accepted articles of 5000-6000 words will be due by January 15, 2023.


Last updated April 8, 2022

CFP There Can Be Only One: Critical Essays on the Highlander Franchise (proposals by 5/31/22)

 Posted on behalf of the editor (and wishing her good luck with the project).

There Can Be Only One: Critical Essays on the Highlander Franchise

Abstract submission deadline: May 31, 2022

Essays of 4,000 – 6,000 words deadline: December 10, 2022

Source: https://michelebrittany.com/?p=31

 

There Can Be Only One.  This phrase was made popular 35 years ago with the release of Highlander, a fantasy action-adventure film directed by Russell Mulcahy and starring Christophe Lambert, Sean Connery, and Clancy Brown.  While it did not turn a profit during its theatrical release, it did become a cult film inspiring several sequels, three television series, original novels, comic books, audio books, video games, a web series, collectibles, musical scores, and a loyal fandom who have successfully organized a number of Highlander fan conventions.  

Over the years, aspects of this franchise become part of popular culture’s lexicon, such as the enduring Queen album, A Kind of Magic with iconic phrases (“Princes of the Universe”/“There Can Be Only One”), and dramatic imagery (electrifying beheadings and portrayals of historic events/places). Since 2008, there have been discussions of remakes and reboots and most recently in May 2021 with Henry Cavill proposed to have a lead role.  

Interestingly, other than franchise retrospectives, soundtrack analysis, and film reviews, there are no singular books of scholarly focus.  This proposed transmedia book will seek to address this gap by collecting a series of essays that provide a focused exploration of the Highlander franchise. 

The editor seeks essays exploring any aspect of the Highlander franchise in films/television, literature, comics, video games, and any other popular culture medium such as: 

• Films: Highlander (1986, Russell Mulcahy); Highlander II: The Quickening (1991, Russell Mulcahy); Highlander III: The Sorcerer (1995, Andy Morahan); Highlander: Endgame (2000, Doug Aarniokoski); Highlander: The Source (2007, Brett Leonard); Highlander: The Search for Vengeance (2007, Yoshiaki Kawajiri)
• Television series: Highlander: The Series (1992-1998); Highlander: The Animated Series (1994-1996); Highlander: The Raven (1998-1999)
• Books:  Highlander: Die Ruckkehr des Unsterblichen (Highlander: The Return of the Immortal, 1994, Martin Eisele and Hans Sommer); Highlander: The Element of Fire (1995, Jason Henderson); Highlander: Scimitar (1996, Ashley McConnell); Highlander: Scotland the Brave (1996, Jennifer Roberson); Highlander: Measure of a Man (1997, Nancy Holder); Highlander: The Path (1997, Rebecca Neason); Highlander: Zealot (1997, Donna Lettow); Highlander: Shadow of Obsession (1998, Rebecca Neason); Highlander: The Captive Soul (1998, Josepha Sherman); Highlander: White Silence (1999, Ginjer Buchanan); Highlander: An Evening at Joe’s (2002, written by cast/crew of Highlander: The Series)
• Comics: Highlander comic book series (Dynamite Entertainment); Highlander 3030 (Emerald Star Comics)
• Video games: Highlander (1986, PC); Highlander: The Last of the MacLeods (1995, Atari Jaguar CD)
• Audio: Highlander: The Original Scores (1995); Queen’s A Kind of Magic (1986); Big Finish Productions’ Highlander audio stories; Highlander: A Celtic Opera
• Web series: The Methos Chronicles (2001)
• Collectibles: Highlander: The Card Game (La Montagnard Inc.)
• Fan derivative works: film, fiction, etc. 

Essays that take an interdisciplinary approach to the subject matter and/or can apply a variety of lenses and frameworks, such as, but not limited to, are encouraged: 

• Close textual analysis
• Comparative analysis
• Cult/secret societies
• Cultural and ethnic
• Fandom and fan studies
• Film studies
• Folklore
• Gender/LGBTQIA+ studies
• Historic analysis
• Literature studies
• Media and communications
• Media Sociology
• Mythological
• Psychological
• Racial studies
• Semiotics
• Theoretical

The editor will review multiple abstract submissions to assemble the most cohesive arrangement of entertaining/insightful essays that will provide a well-rounded exploration and representation of this popular franchise.  Additionally, the editor is seeking essays that balance an academic and armchair enthusiast tone to ensure the widest audience appeal. The deadlines are: 

• 05/31/2022: Abstract of 300 – 500 words, brief CV, and preliminary draft bibliography emailed to the editor. 
• 06/10/2022: Notification of acceptance/rejection.  Successful essayists will be sent a comprehensive style sheet.
• 12/10/2022:  Essays of 4,000 – 6,000 words in length are due to the editor.  Earlier submissions are welcomed and encouraged.
• 12/10/2022 – 05/10/2023: Essays will be edited and returned to each author for review and revision.  
• 05/11/2023 – 11/11/2023: Manuscript will be peer reviewed.  The editor will work with essayists to address all peer review notes and finalize each essay.
• 11/30/2023: Final manuscript sent to the publisher. 

IMPORTANT NOTES

• The editor will be utilizing Microsoft Word’s Track Changes function to record all edits.  It will be the writer’s responsibility to resolve each edit and submit a final clean essay by the deadline noted above. 
• Contributors will receive a complimentary book copy when published.  Postage will be paid by the editor.
• For team written essays, keep to a maximum of two co-authors. 
• The editor encourages the widest possible diverse representation to submit to this call for papers.

Please direct all correspondence to Michele Brittany, Editor, at mcbrittany@gmail.com

 

CFP Greek Mythology & Modern Culture: Reshaping Aesthetic Tastes (11/30/21; Spec Issue of Humanities)

Greek Mythology & Modern Culture: Reshaping Aesthetic Tastes

Source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2021/03/29/greek-mythology-modern-culture-reshaping-aesthetic-tastes

deadline for submissions: November 30, 2021


full name / name of organization: Humanities


contact email: phillipzapkin@gmail.com




Dear Colleagues,

Much of the Western world has a rising problem with white nationalists. These white supremacists often co-opt fields like Classics, medievalism, and Norse mythology to support their racist ideologies—twisting these disciplines and repressing or ignoring evidence for the multicultural and multiracial realities of the ancient and medieval world. In terms of Classics, these distortions and appropriations have been documented by an emerging generation of scholars like Donna Zuckerberg, Dan-el Padilla Peralta, Curtis Dozier, Sarah Bond, and others. Ancient myth, literature, and symbols continue to pervade modern culture.

In particular, Greek myth continues to shape modern worldviews, influence contemporary artists and writers, and appeal to our literary and aesthetic tastes. However, understandings of Greek myth—both in its original context and its reception by later generations—have changed dramatically over time. This special issue of Humanities seeks articles about current research in Greek mythology. Submissions should present cutting edge research about an aspect of Greek myth, prepared for a general audience.

Specific topics might include:

• Greek drama, tragedy, or comedy
• Greek vase paintings
• Epic or lyric poetry
• Reception studies
• Adaptations
• (Re)-Examinations of mythic structures (e.g., rethinking Joseph Campbell’s Hero With A Thousand Faces)
• Feminist analysis of Greek myth
• Postcolonial analysis
• Psychoanalytic analysis
• Generic or cross generic analysis (e.g., myths adapted for film or TV)
• Cross-cultural comparison between Greek myths and myths from other cultures
• Children’s or Young Adult literature, movies, or TV

This special issue seeks to offer an impression of the field, with essays presenting different arguments about Greek myth. While this is a broad brief, the issue as a whole should explore the ways in which Greek myth, and debates about it, remains relevant to the modern world.

Dr. Phillip Zapkin
Prof. Dr. Kevin Wetmore
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information



Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Humanities is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Last updated April 6, 2021 

 

CFP Giger Conference (4/26/20; Lausanne 11/25-27/20)

CFP: Les mondes de H.R. Giger : entre littératures et arts, The Worlds of Giger : between literature and the arts
https://www.fantastic-arts.org/2020/cfp-les-mondes-de-h-r-giger-entre-litteratures-et-arts-the-worlds-of-giger-between-literature-and-the-arts/
February 19, 2020

Les mondes de H.R. Giger : entre littératures et arts
The Worlds of Giger : between literature and the arts
Colloque international

Organisé par l’Université de Lausanne (UNIL) et la Maison d’Ailleurs (Yverdon-les-Bains)
25-27 novembre 2020, Université de Lausanne

Appel à contributions / Call for papers

Hans Ruedi Giger (1940-2014) est sans nul doute l’un des artistes suisses les plus célèbres au monde, depuis qu’il a conçu les décors et les créatures, notamment des films Alien et Dune. Mais il y a un Giger d’avant Alien également. Son œuvre comprend des peintures, des dessins, des sculptures, des objets de design ou encore des bandes dessinées, sans compter les multiples déclinaisons de son univers sur le plan mondial. C’est aussi un artiste pétri de littérature fantastique et de science-fiction, qui a souvent rendu hommage à l’un des maîtres du genre, H.P. Lovecraft. C’est la première fois que son œuvre est proposée comme enseignement à l’Université en Suisse et qu’un colloque international lui est consacré dans une université. En effet, parmi les nombreuses publications consacrées à l’artistes, les études scientifiques font figure d’exception. Ce colloque se propose de commencer à combler cette lacune.

Hans Ruedi Giger (1940-2014) is no doubt the most famous Swiss artist since he has designed te worlds and/or creatures of films such as Alien or Dune. But there is a Giger before Alien too. His work includes paintings, drawings, sculptures, objects and furniture or comics, not to mention the multiple uses of his universe in other fields (tattoe, etc). He is also fascinated by fantastic literature, and especially by H. P. Lovecraft. This is the first scientific conference devoted to his work.

Some possible topics

• Literary inspidations : Lovecraft etc
• Dreams : from surrealism to psychedelism
• Satire and caricature
• Giger in films : Dune /Alien / Species …
• Design
• Technical inventions (aerograph…)
• Erotism / Pornography
• Biomecanics
• Religion and esoterism
• Passages and trains (ghosts)
• Visionary architectures
• Comics
• Video games
• The Museum as Gesamtkunstwerk
• Derivatives : tattoe…
• Etc.

Les propositions de communication sont à adresser à Marc Atallah (marc.atallah@unil.ch) et Philippe Kaenel (philippe.kaenel@unil.ch), en anglais ou en français, jusqu’au 26 avril 2020. Elles comprendront une courte biobibliographie et un abstract de la communication (1500-2000 signes).
The proposals are to be sent to Marc Atallah (marc.atallah@unil.ch) and Philippe Kaenel (philippe.kaenel@unil.ch), in english or in french until 26 april 2020.
Le colloque est soutenu par l’Université de Lausanne (Centre des Sciences historiques de la culture – SHC, et la Section de français).

CFP Good Omens (10/31/2019; SWPACA 2/19-22/2020)

Good Omens--Conference Presentation
https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2019/09/20/good-omens-conference-presentation


deadline for submissions: October 31, 2019

full name / name of organization: Mandy Taylor/Southwest Popular/American Culture Association

contact email: mjhtaylor@gmail.com


This is a one-time special area for the 2020 Southwest Popular/American Culture Association (SWPACA) Conference.

Conference is in Albquerque, New Mexico, February 19-22, 2020.

The Area Chair for Good Omens welcomes and considers any and all proposals related to the book, the series, or both. Proposals are especially encouraged on the following topics:

• Examining the adaptation from book to series. What’s inferred from the text but not explicit (eg, the use of Queen), what is highlighted, what is excluded.
• Performance studies; eg, influence of previous roles or Michael Sheen’s (Aziraphale) contention that fanfic informed his interactions with Crowley (David Tennant); casting choices
• Platform: Do streaming platforms offer greater opportunities? Would it have been released on broadcast or cable?
• ”Ineffable Husbands”: Queer readings of Crowley/Aziraphale
• Gender presentation: eg, Pollution, God, Crowley as Nanny, etc.
• Names/naming: how and why names matter (book or series) (eg, Dog, Adam, Crawley to Crowley, Sister Loquacious)
• The theology of Good Omens: interpretation, satirization, prophets/prophecy, angels/demons
• Reception, including the ill-fated petition to Netflix
• Collaboration (Gaiman/Pratchett; Crowley/Aziraphale, BBC/Amazon)
• Portrayals of Britishness: Crowley/Aziraphale, the Them, etc as “quintessential” or stereotypical; Easter eggs (eg, Who references, Python-esque opening titles
• The power of imagination as seen in the book/series
• Power dynamics in the book/series: e.g. heaven vs. hell, adults vs. kids, humans vs. supernatural beings, etc.
• Fandom: differences/intersections/contentions between book and series fans
• Implications of shifting the time in the book from the early 90s to contemporary times
• Series as tribute to Pratchett (per interviews with Gaiman)
• Rise in apocalyptic texts: How does Good Omens speak to our current times/fascination with/need for apocalyptic texts? What does it offer?
• Literary influences on Good Omens
• Cinematic/filmic influences on the small-screen adaptation

For proposal submissions, visit https://southwestpca.org and select the Conference drop-down menu. Proposals should be submitted directly to the Conference system. Submit any questions to Mandy Taylor at mjhtaylor@gmail.com.


Last updated September 23, 2019
This CFP has been viewed 246 times.

CFP Myth and Fairy Tales Area (10/31/2019; SWPACA 2/19-22/2020)

Call for Papers: Myth and Fairy Tales at Southwest Popular/American Culture Association (SWPACA) 2020
https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2019/09/17/call-for-papers-myth-and-fairy-tales-at-southwest-popularamerican-culture-association


deadline for submissions: October 31, 2019

full name / name of organization: Southwest Popular/American Culture Association

contact email: sheila.dooley@utrgv.edu



Call for Papers

Myth and Fairy Tales

Southwest Popular / American Culture Association (SWPACA)



41st Annual Conference, February 19-22, 2020

Hyatt Regency Hotel & Conference Center

Albuquerque, New Mexico

http://www.southwestpca.org

Proposal submission deadline: October 31, 2019



Proposals for papers and panels are now being accepted for the 41st annual SWPACA conference.  One of the nation’s largest interdisciplinary academic conferences, SWPACA offers nearly 70 subject areas, each typically featuring multiple panels.  For a full list of subject areas, area descriptions, and Area Chairs, please visit http://southwestpca.org/conference/call-for-papers/



All scholars working in the areas of myth and/or fairy tales are invited to submit paper or panel proposals for the upcoming SWPACA Conference. Panels are now forming on topics related to all aspects of myths and fairy tales and their connections to popular culture. To participate in this area, you do not need to present on both myths and fairy tales; one or the other is perfectly fine. Presentations considering both genres are of course welcome and can stimulate interesting discussions. Proposals for forming your own Myth or Fairy Tale-focused panel – especially panels focused on one particular myth/tale – are encouraged.

Paper topics might include (but are certainly not limited to):

• Where Fairy Tales and Myth Overlap
• Non-Western Myths and Fairy Tales
• Revised Fairy Tales
• Fairy Tales in/as “Children’s Literature”
• Disney
• Urban Fairy Tales
• Ethnic Myths and Fairy Tales
• Gendered Readings of Myths and Fairy Tales
• Postcolonial Myths and Fairy Tales
• Myths and Fairy Tales in Advertising Culture
• Reading Myths and Fairy Tales in the Popular Culture of Past Centuries
• Performing Myths and Fairy Tales: Drama and/or Ritual
• Genres of Myths and/or Fairy Tales: Film, Television, Poetry, Novels, Music, Comic Books, Picture Books, Short Stories, or Graphic Novels

All proposals must be submitted through the conference’s database at http://register.southwestpca.org/southwestpca



For details on using the submission database and on the application process in general, please see the Proposal Submission FAQs and Tips page at http://southwestpca.org/conference/faqs-and-tips/



Individual proposals for 15-minute papers must include an abstract of approximately 200-500 words. Including a brief bio in the body of the proposal form is encouraged, but not required.



For information on how to submit a proposal for a roundtable or a multi-paper panel, please view the above FAQs and Tips page.



The deadline for submissions is October 31, 2019. 

SWPACA offers monetary awards for the best graduate student papers in a variety of categories. Submissions of accepted, full papers are due January 1, 2020.  For more information, visit http://southwestpca.org/conference/graduate-student-awards/



Registration and travel information for the conference is available at http://southwestpca.org/conference/conference-registration-information/



In addition, please check out the organization’s peer-reviewed, scholarly journal, Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy, at http://journaldialogue.org/

If you have any questions about the Myth and Fairy Tales area, please contact its Area Chair, Sheila Dooley, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV), Sheila.dooley@utrgv.edu



We look forward to receiving your submissions!




Last updated September 23, 2019
This CFP has been viewed 213 times.