GAMES AND COMMUNITIES – PLAYERS, FANS, GAMERS
Sixth International Video Games Studies Conference (SVI 2027)

8-9 April 2027, University of Zadar, Croatia

Keynote Speaker: Tom Apperley

In January 2026, murals of faceless female silhouettes in yoga poses were scratched around the genital area in the Indian city of Gwalior. The figures depicted no identifiable women; they were attacked anyway. In 2024, sexually explicit AI-generated deepfakes of Taylor Swift circulated widely online, demonstrating a very different but related form of image violation. Across a scratched public wall and a fabricated digital image, the same question emerges: what happens when an image of a woman becomes the surface upon which sexualisation, humiliation or punishment is performed? This special issue asks where, if anywhere, a woman’s image can be assumed to be safe.

We are inviting contributors to our project on World Philosophy and Humor. This work aims to explore the philosophical dimensions of humor, examining its nature, function, ethical implications, and cultural significance. We are now especially interested in adding contributors for book chapters on Islamic and ancient philsoophies.

Contributions could engage with any of the following themes:

1. The Nature of Humor: What is humor, and how can it be defined? Philosophical inquiries into the essence of humor, including its relationship to comedy, wit, irony, and satire.

CFP: Red Reading the Modern Novel

Society for Novel Studies (Vancouver, BC; 13-16 May 2027)

The organizer seeks papers that apply Red Reading to twentieth- and twenty-first century novels. The literary canon has been expanded brilliantly in the last few decades, and literary critical approaches have shifted away from modes of corrosive critique. There remains however, a dearth of work grounded in Indigenous epistemologies and critical approaches. As an initial response to this gap, this panel seeks to test Red Reading’s utility for studies of the novel.

This seminar invites papers that explore the concepts of ekphrasis, the mise en abyme, and metaphorical mirrors in literature, music, and the visual arts. How are mirrors used by artists as deliberate tools to represent something else? How are metaphorical mirrors used to compare different types of reflections across mediums? How are mirrors used to suggest that the aesthetic “surface” is a distraction, and true clarity lies in understanding what the observer or listener wants to see or hear? Papers focused on one medium or interdisciplinaryapproaches from the Ancient, Medieval, Modern, and Postmodern periods are welcome.

The Claude McKay Society (CMKS) plans to convene one or two panels at the American Literature Association 38th Annual Conference at the Westin Copley Place, Boston, May 26-29, 2027. CMKS seeks proposals on any aspect of McKay’s writing. The conference registration is $200, $125 for graduate students, independent scholars, and retired faculty (the ALA requires no membership fee). Contact Gary Holcomb, holcomb@ohio.edu by January 1st, 2027. Send a title, abstract, and brief biographical information.

Femspec seeks both scholarly and creative submissions for its upcoming Issue 27.1.  Femspec is an interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed feminist academic journal dedicated to science fiction, fantasy, magical realism, surrealism, myth, folklore, and other supernatural genres.  Femspec publishes both academic scholarship and creative writing. Creative writing submissions could include short fiction, poetry, or experimental forms.

To submit work for consideration, please review Femspec’s submission guidelines at the following link: SUBMISSION GUIDELINES | Femspec

Call for Papers (CFP)

Literatūra – Scientific Journal of Vilnius University

New Horizons in Spanish-Language Literatures

Literatūra, the scientific journal of Vilnius University, is preparing a special issue dedicated to innovative research on literatures written in Spanish. The issue aims to bring together contributions that, drawing on contemporary critical perspectives and interdisciplinary approaches, propose new ways of reading, interpreting, and contextualising texts, authors, and literary phenomena from the Spanish-speaking world.

Volcanic Materiality in Literature and Art of the Anthropocene

Editor: Dewey W. Hall

Call for Contributions

Interpretation And Its Discontents

Texts, Complexity, and Cultural Discourses in Shakespeare Studies Today

18-19 May 2027

The Big Ten Trans Studies Initiative invites trans studies scholars and students affiliated with Big Ten institutions to submit proposals for a three-day forum on pedagogy and curriculum, to be held April 20-May 1 at Penn State University. This forum will be held in person.

IRISH POPULAR CULTURE FROM THE 1990s TO TODAY: A NEW GREEN WAVE TAKING THE WORLD BY STORM?

International Conference (France)

Thursday 4th and Friday 5th February 2027

Co-organised by Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne (CIRLEP), Université Sorbonne Nouvelle (CREW) and Université de Tours (ICD)

Confirmed key-note speakers: Dr. Maria Parsons (IADT, Dun Laoghaire, Ireland), and Dr. Timothy Heron (U. Strasbourg, France)

Animal Studies Across Disciplines Symposium

April 7th-April 9th 2027

Arizona State University

Many scholars argue that we are now living in a new geological epoch—the Anthropocene—a name chosen to encapsulate an irreversibly transformed planet due to the rapid expansion of human populations, increasing exploitation of animals and natural resources, and pervasive pollution. The effects of the Anthropocene have been caused by only a small percentage of the world’s population, yet those living in the Global South disproportionately suffer the consequences. The Anthropocene, then, is just as much a social problem as it is an environmental issue. 

The IMS Standing Committee welcomes
papers in all areas of Milton Studies.

Submission deadline November 15, 2026

For possible topic and more information see https://ims14.org/call-for-papers

CFP: ARIEL Special Issue, “Displacing Diasporas: How Diasporas Make and Unmake Empires and Nations”

Guest Editors:

Amrita Mishra, Berea College; Chienyn Chi, Bethany College; Nicholas Bloom, Harvard University

Call for Proposals

Haunted Landscapes 3

Conference: Falmouth University, June 30 to 2nd July 2027

In 2014 and 2023, Falmouth University hosted two of its most successful conferences: Haunted Landscapes. This conference is round three of that event, which will again be held in beautiful Cornwall on the Falmouth Campus, set in lush tropical gardens and only a few minutes’ walk away from its picturesque town and beaches.

The Center for Refugee, Migrant, and Displacement Studies is excited to share a call for submissions for the 6th volume of Roots & Resettlement, a mixed-media digital collection. For this volume, we invite creative submissions by Latine voices from across the world for a collection exploring migration, place, and belonging.

The Centre in English-Language Travel Literature – 20, 21 and 22 May 2027

MSH Clermont-Ferrand

The Department of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University is thrilled to host the 12th annual Post45 Graduate Symposium on March 4-6, 2027.

The Post45 Graduate Symposium seeks graduate-level works-in-progress related to post-1945 media, arts, literature, textual or visual objects, digital platforms, politics, and culture. We welcome submissions that expand our conception of objects and meaning-making post-1945 or place them in comparative, transnational, or hemispheric frames. We especially welcome contributions that foreground the importance of race, gender, class, and sexuality to post-45 studies.

Reminder: Teaching the Nineteenth Century in Today's University

NeMLA 2027 Annual Convention in Newport, RI, March 6-9, 2027

Abstracts due 9/30

In an environment of increasing digital distraction, courses exploring nineteenth-century literature and culture ask students to engage with some of literature’s lengthiest texts. How can we encourage meaningful engagement with nineteenth century “loose, baggy monsters” in today’s university? What resources can we call upon to better engage our students and support their learning in light of the rise of AI and the challenges of online distraction?

Concept note

Fafnir – Nordic Journal of Science Fiction and Fantasy Research invites authors to submit papers for issue 1/2027. Research into any and all aspects of science fiction, fantasy, and other speculative genres is welcome from a range of disciplines.

Fafnir – Nordic Journal of Science Fiction and Fantasy Research is a peer-reviewed academic journal published online twice a year. Fafnir is acompletely open-access, non-profit publication of the Finnish Society for Science Fiction and Fantasy Research (FINFAR). Fafnir publishes various texts ranging from peer-reviewed research articles to short overviews and book reviews in the field of science fiction and fantasy research.