A Callaloo Call For Papers

The Cultures and Letters of the Black Diaspora

Callaloo is currently putting together materials for an issue to be
published in the Summer of 2007 as the third of four special issues
celebrating the journal's Thirtieth Anniversary. The guest editors for this
issue seek essays and creative work focused on the cultures and letters of
the black diaspora, including reflections on literature, art, film, music,
theater and dance. Essays can be critical responses to theories of the
black diaspora as well as considerations on the cultural production of those
of African descent around the world. Essays can also explore the global
phenomena of the Atlantic slave trade and colonialism in relationship to the
black diaspora as a transnational, regional, and/or global historical
formation.

Of particular interest are essays and creative works that address the
nuances and vicissitudes of the black diaspora both as a historical
formation and as a concept. Toward this end, topics that complicate our
understanding of blackness as quotidian by investigating how the diaspora
intersects with, and translates, other realities including language, gender,
region, nation, work and labor, sexuality, and religion, will likely be
considered along with those that engage Africa.

Possible topics may include, but certainly are not limited to:

*The African influence in musical forms including batuque, son, plena,
hip-hop, and méringue/merengue típico
* The presence of orixás/orishas or Africa in religious practices such as
Candomblé, Santería, and Vaudou
* Blackness in the global metropolis, such as London, Los Angeles, Paris,
and New York
* The relationship between slavery and/or colonialism in the formation of
the black diaspora
* Cinemas of the black diaspora by filmmakers such as Souleyman Cissé, Haile
Gerima, and Idrissa Ouédraogo, among others
* Literary production from Olaudah Equiano to Dionne Brand, Mary Prince to
Tayeb Salih, Aimé Césaire to Buchi Emecheta, Derek Walcott to Edwidge
Danticat, Langston Hughes to Paule Marshall, among others

Essays submissions should be 4000-5000 words and include a 150-200 word
abstract. Poetry, fiction, and/or creative responses may be significantly
shorter. All manuscripts must follow the Callaloo submission guidelines and
be postmarked no later than Saturday, January 14, 2007, to:
Callaloo / The Black Diaspora
Department of English
Texas A&M University
4227 TAMU
College Station, TX 77483-4227

For this special issue, overseas submissions may be sent via email to
<callaloo_at_tamu.edu>, with the heading The Black Diaspora Submission, on or
before the aforementioned deadline.

Please direct questions and any other correspondence to Ivy G. Wilson and
Ayo A. Coly, guest editors, at:

wilson.166_at_nd.edu (Ivy G. Wilson)
ayo.a.coly_at_dartmouth.edu (Ayo A. Coly)

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Received on Fri Aug 11 2006 - 15:28:02 EDT