Chapter proposals are invited for an edited collection tentatively titled Representing the Other Half: Essays on Poverty in American Popular Culture (under contract with McFarland). The volume will seek to interrogate the ways in which poverty has been depicted (and/or ignored) across a variety of media, including but not limited to fiction, non-fiction, poetry, film, photography, painting, music, radio, etc.

Questions to be considered, among others: When, why, and how do producers of popular culture represent and/or ignore poverty? How do those representations influence the idea of poverty in the American cultural imaginary? In turn, how does that imaginary interact with policy? What role might the scholar/critic play in this process?

Contributions are welcomed from scholars working in a range of disciplines in the humanities and social sciences. Interested authors should submit an abstract of 300 to 500 words and a brief bio by September 7, 2015 to povertyandpopculture@gmail.com, addressed to Wylie Lenz. All chapters should be previously unpublished.