Myth, Folklore, and Fairy Tales Area
Call for Papers
Myth, Folklore, and Fairy Tales Area
Southwest Popular / American Culture Association (SWPACA)
48th Annual Conference, February 17-20, 2027
Marriott Albuquerque
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Submissions open: September 1, 2026
Proposal submission deadline: October 31, 2026
Proposals for papers and panels are now being accepted for the 48th 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 https://swpaca.org/subject-areas/.
Scholars working in the areas of myth, folklore, and/or fairy tales are invited to submit paper or panel proposals for the upcoming SWPACA Conference. Topics related to all aspects of myths, folklore, and/or fairy tales are welcome, and connections to popular culture are especially encouraged. Proposals for forming your own myth, folklore, or fairy tale-focused panel—especially panels focused on one particular tale or topic—are encouraged.
Some possibilities:
- where myth, folklore, and fairy tales overlap
- non-Western folklore, myths, and fairy tales
- revised fairy tales
- fairy tales, myth, or folklore in/as children’s literature
- Disney or other studios’ use of folklore, myth, or fairy tales
- urban fairy tales
- ethnic myths, folklore, and fairy tales
- gendered readings of myths, folklore, and fairy tales
- postcolonial myths, folklore, and fairy tales
- myths, folklore, or fairy tales in advertising culture
- reading myths and fairy tales in the popular culture of past centuries
- performing myths, folklore, or fairy tales: drama and/or ritual
- adaptations or use of myths, folklore, or fairy tales in modern media or popular culture (film, television, poetry, novels, music, comic books, picture books, short stories, graphic novels, etc.)
- considerations of theory or methodologies in myth and folklore scholarship
All proposals must be submitted through the conference’s database at https://swpaca.org/app.
For details on using the submission database and on the application process in general (including submitting proposals for roundtables and preformed panels), please see the FAQS & Resources tab on https://swpaca.org/. Individual proposals for 15-minute papers must include an abstract of approximately 200-500 words and a brief summary of 100 words or less.
For information on how to submit a proposal for a multi-paper panel, please view the above FAQs & Resources link.
The deadline for submissions is October 31, 2026.
SWPACA offers monetary awards for the best graduate student papers in a variety of categories. Submissions of accepted, full papers are due January 1, 2027. More details are here: https://swpaca.org/graduate-student-paper-awards/. SWPACA also offers travel fellowships for undergraduate and graduate students as well as contingent faculty: https://swpaca.org/travel-awards-students-faculty/.
Registration and travel information for the conference is available at https://swpaca.org/albuquerque-conference/.
In addition, please check out the organization’s peer-reviewed, scholarly journal, Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy, at https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dialogue/.
If you have any questions about the Myth, Folklore, and Fairy Tales area, please contact its Area Chair, Dr. Lexey Bartlett, Fort Hays State University, labartlett@fhsu.edu. If you have general questions about the conference, please contact us at support@swpaca.org, and a member of the executive team will get back to you.
This will be a fully in-person conference. If you’re looking for an online option to present your work, keep an eye out for details about the 2027 SWPACA Summer Salon, a completely virtual conference to take place in June 2027.
We look forward to receiving your submissions!