cfp.english.upenn.edu

Subject: This edited collection seeks to publish recent scholarship that examines various aspects of Mike Leigh’s life and career as a writer and director by scholars from a variety of disciplines employing a range of critical methodologies. These essays will cover all phases of the BAFTA-award-winning director’s career, from his early television work to his theatrical films, including Life is Sweet (1990), Naked (1993), Secrets & Lies (1996), Career Girls (1997), Topsy-Turvy (1999), All or Nothing (2002), Vera Drake (2004), Happy-Go-Lucky (2008), and Another Year (2010). We are interested in receiving abstracts over the next few months, and completed papers. Feel free to send what you have now and give an idea of what the final submission will look like.

Topics may include but are not limited to:

· close-readings of individual Leigh films,
· analysis of recurring themes and motifs in several Leigh films
· David Cameron, the British film industry, and the future of Leigh’s career.
· Another Year.
· Portrayals of the Irish “Troubles” in Four Days in July.
· comparisons of Leigh to other writers and directors and their body of work (ie: Jimmy McGovern, Ken Loach, Joseph Losey, Tony Richardson, Basil Dearden, and Lindsay Anderson).
· how Leigh’s films reflect the changing cultural and political landscape of Great Britain.
· representations of politics, class, race, gender, etc. in the Leigh filmography.
· how Leigh’s real life informs his work and the extent to which his personality traits (do or don’t) find their way into his characters.
· the Leigh “troupe” of actors: their performances and role in shaping the plot and script through improvisational performances.
· how Leigh gets these movies funded and made when they are so "not commercial."
· Leigh’s political activism (domestic politics, Arab-Israeli conflict, etc.)
· Leigh’s theatre work.
· Leigh’s “England” compared to EastEnders, Michael Apted’s Up Documentaries, etc.
· a survey of Leigh’s critical reception, Box Office success, and the existing academic scholarship on his work, as well as his treatment in sophisticated periodicals such as Cineaste.

Scholars who have already published work on Leigh are welcome to contribute, as well as Leigh "newcomers."

Citation Style: latest Modern Language Association style.

A note about drafts: It will be helpful – if it is possible given the work schedules involved – if contributors will be able to submit a fairly polished draft of roughly 3,500-5,000 words around mid-February. (Recall that the final draft would be 6,000-8,500 words [including notes] and due on August 15.) If you cannot submit drafts, or do not like to work in this manner, then this phase of production may be omitted and completed chapters submitted on August 15.

We are asking for drafts for two reasons:

1) we can see what a number of contributors are writing about and offer suggestions as to how the various essays might act in relation to one another as the chapters move towards completion. This will help the book achieve some level of thematic cohesion despite being written by upwards of ten contributors.

2) an early draft may expedite the publishing process and help the editors secure publisher commitment to the project while the essays are still being completed.

Please contact both Bryan and Marc with your ideas before beginning significant work on the chapter so we can ensure that the contributors do not duplicate one another’s submissions. (For example, we don’t want every essay to be close readings of Naked and Secrets and Lies.) Ideally, we would like you to contact us with ideas by January 30, 2011. Final submissions are due August 15, 2011. Please send abstracts and/or final submissions, along with a brief biographical sketch, directly to captainblackadder@hotmail.com and cardinale.powell@gmail.com.